Diplomatic Relations
by LotornoMiko
Summary: Au Universe, while on a secret diplomatic mission, the ship Allura is on is captured by Drule pirates led by the crown prince of Doom. Keeping her identity a secret, Allura must do everything she can to survive long enough to get back to Arus and her ailing father. However, even if she does get away, will Lotor be content to leave it at that? Lotor Allura, Cossack Oc, OC OC pairng
1. Chapter 1

Standard Disclaimer Time. I do not own Lotor, Allura of any characters, worlds, giant robots from the series Voltron. That honor belongs to World Events Productions. I make no money off of said fic. This is done purely for entertainment purposes.

-Michelle

The rocking of the ship was violent, the very floor seeming to sway beneath her feet. It caused Allura to stumble every few steps, and at one point the ship did such a sudden jerk, that the woman was thrown against the room's desk. A vicious curse word followed the pain that flared in her side, the other women present gasping and giving Allura shocked looks. She had to hold back the glare that had been threathening to come out ever since this nightmare had first started, Allura murmuring apologies as she rubbed a hand over her side. She'd no doubt be bruised there thanks to the way she had been slammed into the steel desk, but Allura would consider herself lucky if that was the worst thing that would happen to her in the coming hours.

Holding in a sigh, Allura resumed her unsteady walk across the room. Her fingers continued to fumble with the buttons of her nightgown, Allura finally giving up to forcefully rip the garment open. The other women paid her little mind, too busy going through their belongings, seeking out the papers that identified them as citizens of planet Arus. Allura had yet to secure her own, but she knew without thinking where those papers were. In the closet, inside the brown bag that lay on the shelf atop the clothes rack.

She knew without having to look, just where the bag was, and which pocket held all her important documents. That included the official papers that spoke of her mission's success, an agreement with the planet , or at least the beginnings of an agreement. Further details of such an agreement were meant to be ironed out at a later time, the papers Allura carried a promise for Arus to receive the help it needed, in return for planet Jacquol to get what it so desired.

Now it all stood in jeopardy, Allura grabbing both the documents and clothes from the closet. She'd pull on the shirt as she walked, though she'd have to wait until she was inside the bathroom to properly put on the pants. She did so as though it didn't matter, her thoughts on the papers, and on what was happening all around them. The repeated sound of laser fire being issued, and the sound of such beams slamming into the ship's adamantanium hide, made it almost impossible to think of much of anything else. Her fingers clenched on the papers, crinkling the edges as she stared down as the official seal of the King of planet Jacquol. Next to that large, almost obtrusive seal, was a much smaller, but no less extravagant seal that committed Arus to the deal brokered between the two worlds. And in another few seconds, it and the paper they were stamped on, would be burnt to ash, nothing remaining of the agreement.

"Are you sure about this, your highness?" Came the voice of her personal maid, Marie. Allura didn't even look towards the brown haired young woman, her fist crumpling the papers completely.

"We've no other choice." Allura said, her voice lacking the emotions that stirred turmoil inside her. Wordlessly, Marie would light the match, holding it up so that Allura could set one end of the documents on fire. The flames took to the paper immediately, Allura dropping the burning documents into the sink's basin.

Watching the flames eat away at the agreement, Allura took a moment to think how unfair this all was. How it was never supposed to have turned this complicated. Her mission to planet Jacquol while of the utmost importance, had also been shrouded in secrecy. Allura had been expected to be in and out of the sector in a matter of days, the entire journey plus negotiating the promise estimated to be completed in less than a week of universal standard time.

But from the beginning, trouble had arose. From Nanny falling too ill to accompany and play chaperone to Allura and the small group of females who had traveled with the princess to planet Jacquol. To the negotiation of the promise taking a whole two days longer than originally estimated, to the fact that the private ship they had been traveling on had ended up permanently docked when it's engine had exploded. That setback with the ship, had left Allura and her attendants scrambling, the group finally booking passage on a cheap pleasure yacht that was set to visit Arus in two weeks time.

Neither Allura nor her attendants had liked the thought of being gone from Arus for nearly three weeks time. But they had had little choice when it came to their options. Because of the secret nature of their mission, they couldn't openly travel on an Arusian vessel. Nor could they board any ships that were from worlds that engage in open hostilities with Doom, a world Arus had a most troublesome relationship with.

It was because of that relationship, and the tentative peace that existed between Arus and Doom, that had led Allura to leave her planet and sneak away to Jacquol. Doom had not yet begun to invade in earnest, though Arus' spies said they were gearing up to try for something major. As worrisome as that was, it was even more troubling to know Arus could only withstand an earnest attack for a couple of months' time given their present circumstances.

Needing a protector, and knowing that Doom would act at the first sign of Arus negotiating for such a thing, it had left Allura's ailing father, King Alfor, to send his only child to planet Jacquol in the hopes they would be amiable to what they offered in return for assistance. It had been a risky move, not just because of the trouble they invited should Doom figure it out before Jacquol promised and positioned aide, but also because any number of worlds would have loved to have taken Allura prisoner. As princess of Arus, King Alfor's only child, and the next in line for the throne, she would make a fine political hostage.

Arus, while seemingly nothing more than a fertile world known for it's farming opportunities, had one sought after asset. The rare mineral known as triklelite which had only been discovered to exist in such a rich abundance on Arus in recent years. It was a plum resource, a substance far more powerful than lazon, whose effects when converted into fuel and energy lasted twice as long as the galaxy's leading power source.

It should have made Arus rich beyond the people's dreams. Instead it was bringing the farming world nothing but unasked for troubles. Doom wasn't the only ones interested to invade Arus, but the Drules had managed to scare off many of the others who might dare attempt such a thing. At the present, only planet Demos which existed far off on the borders between this galaxy and the next, could afford the man power needed to fight it out with the Drules long term.

Neither Doom or Demos had yet to actually try to invade, too busy fighting each other, rather than present a unified front against Arus' own meager military. Even planet Jacquol's military wasn't strong or big enough to last indefinitely against those two powers, but if united with Arus and a few other planets? They might just stand a chance. Of course and the other planets would demand the mineral as their compensation, but many of the people of Arus, Allura included, would be glad to give it up if it meant peace would return to their world.

That peace seemed an impossible dream now, Allura staring stone eyed at the burning embers in the sink. Marie would pile more papers into the sink, another fire flaring to life, as each woman brought their identification into the small bathroom. Even Allura would burn the papers that proved who she was, holding out hope that she would not be recognized on looks alone.

Though beautiful, her form and face more than fair, Allura was basing all her hopes on the fact that Arus hadn't been considered important until recently. Certainly the fertile farming planet hadn't been part of the collective awareness of the rest of the Denubian Galaxy, existing in relative isolation save for their thriving food exports. Certainly no one of any real power or importance had paid any mind to a such a world, content to leave Arus and it's people alone. And just as certain was the fact that few if any had bothered to learn the names, let alone the looks of planet Arus' royal family.

All that was changing now, the movers and shakers of the Denubian Galaxy trying to learn everything they could about Arus and the power behind the planet. Spy drones while not common, had been uncovered, and Allura knew that while she kept out of the tabloids and news holos, her face surely had to have been seen by more than a few of those who held such greedy ambition for Arus and the mineral trikelite .

Allura didn't know WHO was attacking the pleasure yacht, but she held out hope that it wasn't someone who had had the time to familiarize themselves with what the royal family of Arus looked liked. Certainly she hoped that the attackers would be low enough in the command chain as to have been given little to no real information about Arus' crown princess. She hoped, and she even prayed that the Gods might allow her to be so fortunate as to fool the ship's attackers into believing she was no one of any real importance, just another beautiful blond servant out on a pleasure cruise.

It was the reason why she was dressed in less than fashionable clothing, instead wearing the white and sky blue uniforms Marie and the other attendants wore. Her waist length blonde hair was done up in a large bun, and not even the maid cap could contain it all.

Allura wasn't sure the outfit would be enough to fool anyone, which is why they had all destroyed their papers. It would be disaster enough for anyone to discover there were Arusians amongst the passengers aboard the yacht, let alone for them to realize the princess of Arus walked amongst them.

And if for some reason they suspected the truth, well there was two other blue eyed blondes among Allura's entourage. While not identical in looks, Allura hoped that it would be enough to fool any who might suspect who she really was.

She didn't think in terms of what if where the ship was concerned. She knew the pleasure yacht would fall under the onslaught of it's attackers. It was only a matter of when. Pleasure yachts weren't equipped to defend against an attack of such a magnitude, eventually it's shields would fail, and the ship would be boarded. Heaven help everyone then!

Allura could never admit to her attendants that she was afraid. That fear was something she had to keep privately, Allura maintaining a steel hold on her emotions. Allura knew she had to be strong, had to be brave, had to be the support the other women needed. She couldn't so much as shake, instead holding her head high while she gave commands. The other women seemed grateful for the orders, needing something to occupy their minds.

They scurried about, putting right the mess they had made when searching for their individual papers. They would leave no evidence behind of their frantic scurrying, leaving the room only slightly disheveled to show how quickly they had gotten dressed when the laser attacks had jolted them all awake.

Even Allura helped clean, noting with some relief that none of the clothing was rich enough for a princess to have worn, nor was any of it in the style and make of popular Arusian fashion. Even the maid uniforms could have come from anywhere, the women intent on maintaining their anonymity.

There were pockets in her uniform, but Allura didn't bother to stuff them with what few valuables she had brought. She was sure whoever was attacking, would not allow her to keep anything but the clothes on her body, and even that might be in doubt depending on just who was behind these attacks. She had her suspicions, several unappealing choices that ranged from pirates, to someone discovering the princess of Allura traveled on this ship, to even the thought that planet Jacquol had changed it's mind and was intent on backstabbing the Arusians.

What was the best she could hope for? The betrayal, or to be taken prisoner by someone hoping to use Allura against her own people? Or the pirates that would loot them of all their valuables, then leave them and the ship stranded for an indefinite amount of time? And that was only if the pirates weren't also slave traders, intent on turning a profit off the people aboard the yacht.

Disturbed by those thoughts, Allura fought a frown. "I'm going out." That immediately got gasps from the others, several voicing protests at such an idea.

"Princess, no!"

"Don't call me that!" Allura snapped. "I am not your princess...not so long as we are in danger. As far as anyone is concerned, I am just another woman...a servant whose misplaced her mistress."

"Forgive me." Said the girl who had mispoke, shamefaced and bowing her head.

"It's all right." Allura forced a kind smile. "Now..." She made to move for the door, but Marie stopped her.

"What purpose will going out there serve?"

"I ask the same about remaining here." Allura replied. "No...I won't just sit here waiting in the dark. I mean to find out just exactly what is going on, and if there is anything we can do..."

"I don't think there is anything we can do..." fretted Patresia. She played with the ends of recently dyed blonde hair, her eyes looking every where due to nervous excitement. "It's not as if we can fight..."

"I'll fight if I have to." said a determined flame haired woman named Jacquelyn. "I'll use anything within reach, my fists if I have too!"

"Won't do you much good against those lasers!" pointed out Patresia.

"Jacquelyn it's admirable of you, but please...no unnecessary heroics. They might simply be here for our valuables..."

"But what if they're not?" demanded Jacquelyn, interrupting Allura. "What if their pirates or worse?!"

"What would pirates be doing in this sector?" asked Marie. It was a sensible question. Everyone knew planet Jacquol did heavy patrol of the space around it and it's neighbor worlds. Piracy of such a violent nature was practical unheard of in this sector, and yet the alternatives were just as bad to think of.

"I can put at least one fear to rest by going out." Allura's tone was firm, the woman already opening the cabin door. "I intend to speak with the captain of the ship. Find out just who we are dealing with."

She didn't know what she would do once she had that knowledge though, Allura ignoring the protesting cries to step out into chaos. There were dozens of people out in the hall, scurrying about from room to room, or rushing to the escape pods with as much of their valuables as they could carry. One man nearly knocked Allura over, the princess stepping back just in time. He didn't even stop to apologize of complain, what looked like pearls falling from the heavy bundle wrapped in his arms.

Stepping over the many pearls scattered on the floor, Allura began making her determined way forward. No one else cared about the pearls, to busy with their own fears and problems, to pay much attention to anyone else. There was even an older married couple, the woman arguing loudly with husband about a chest as long as she was tall. The man was refusing to carry it any further, and the woman was refusing to leave without it.

Red faced and screaming, Allura noted both the man and woman had their pockets full of jewels. And yet the woman wasn't content to leave without more of her wealth. It made Allura tsk inwardly, thinking about how some people's greed knew no bounds. But the couple's argument wasn't the only thing she overhead. Allura caught excited snippets from people who ran by, the people wondering just who was behind the attack. One word got her to stop in complete shock, Allura grabbed at the arm of a beautiful, raven haired woman whose ears were slightly pointed like that of an elf or a Drule's.

"What did you say?!" Allura demanded, her tone harsh. The companion of the dark haired woman took one look at Allura's face, and backed off, murmuring something in a language Allura did not understand.

The raven haired woman, whose eyes were green looked into Allura's face, and spoke with a steady tone that didn't betray any panic she might be feeling. "We're under attack by DRULE pirates." She let out a pained sound, Allura having inadvertently squeezed down on the woman's arm.

"Drule pirates?!" Allura demanded, relaxing her grip. "Are you sure?!"

"Word came down from the captain himself." The woman explained. "He was having a late meal with my superior when the attacks began."

Allura looked more closely at the woman, recognizing her flowing white gown as the garments worn by the small group of priestesses traveling aboard this ship. She could even remember speaking once with the mentioned superior, learning the priestesses were on a mission of their own, to do the Gods' holy work in far off sector. They hadn't been able to afford a private ship of their own, having to book the cheapest rooms on this pleasure yacht. Now their work might never be done, the priestesses in as much danger as any other person aboard this ship. Especially if they were all as attractive looking as this raven haired woman was.

"It's strange, isn't it?" asked the priestess. "Why Drule pirates would choose to be in a sector patrolled by planet Jacquol's military..."

Her stomach clenching in upset, Allura let go of the priestess' arm. "Strange indeed." She agreed out loud, though inwardly she was cursing. Someone had to have figured out just who was on the ship. It was the only explanation she could think of as to why the Drule were in this sector, and attacking this particular ship. It made her feel horrible, Allura knowing she had endangered everyone aboard this ship. The people would be killed or worse, and it would be all her fault. In trying to save her planet, she had damned it and a ship full of innocents.

"Are you all right?" asked the priestess, whose jade colored eyes seemed to miss nothing of Allura's private distress. Allura wonder how badly her expression was betraying her, or if she had gone pale with horror at the magnitude of what was happening.

"I...I'm fine..." Allura said weakly, just as the lurching of the ship sent her careening into the priestess' front. The two women fell against a wall, the priestess now putting a hand on Allura's arm to help her stay upright.

"I think you need to sit down." The priestess said. "Perhaps have a drink..."

"I'll be fine...I just need..."

"Yes?" The priestess was attentive. Allura mentally slapped herself, urging herself to pull together. The ship lurched again, and a third time, the rocking motion so violent she knew the ship was turning over to it's side.

"It won't be long now." The priestess murmured. The arguing couple's chest slid by, seemingly abandoned by the man and his wife. "They'll be boarding us soon."

"Then there's nothing we can do..." Allura muttered.

"We can pray." suggested the priestess. Allura didn't want to insult her, but she didn't know what good praying would do in this kind of situation. "Perhaps they'll just take what they need and leave us be..."

"Have you ever known a Drule pirate raid to leave anything or anyone behind?" Allura demanded harshly. The priestess seemed to flinch then, whispering sadly.

"No."

The look on the priestess face showed she was smart enough to know what would happen. Those the Drules couldn't make slaves of, they would kill. Drule pirates never left behind anything of value, or any witnesses to their foul deeds. For some of the people on board this ship, the second the attacks begun, their death warrants had been signed.

"It won't do any good to try and escape." Allura said out loud. Her voice sounded odd to her, despairing but resigned. "They'll shoot down any escape pods jettisoned...no one is safe..." She didn't resist as the priestess led her down the corridor, the woman finding a cushioned bench for them both to sit on.

"You're so pale." The priestess commented. "And I think you might be going into shock..." Allura said nothing to that, the priestess frowning. "Look, I'm Alexandria. Why don't I try to find someone you're with..." Her eyes glanced at the uniform Allura wore, the princess recalling how none of the passengers aboard the ship had recognized her as the princess of Arus. Or at least, it had seemed that way. Now she wondered, had someone realized her true identity? Had that person contacted Doom, and betrayed Allura and everyone onboard the ship to the Drule? She just didn't know, there was too many on board the ship, too many potential chances for someone to have recognized Allura.

"This can't be happening." Allura moaned, truly feeling helpless in the moment. The priestess, ever concerned, could only shrug in acknowledgement. Vaguely Allura noted the ship had stopped all it's rocking, and even the sound of laser fire had quieted down. No doubt the Drules were bringing out the heavy duty blow torches to force an opening into the ship. It would take time, as would the fighting between the pirates and the yacht's crew. Allura didn't dare hope the yacht's crew could defeat the Drule. At best they could only buy them a few more hours of freedom.

Not knowing what to do, and refusing to crumple in defeat, Allura just sat there numb. The priestess, Alexandria sat down beside her, but Allura couldn't allow herself to be drawn into any further conversation. She could think of nothing but Arus, and the fact that she might never see it, or her ailing father again.

To Be Continued...

This was an idea that wouldn't let me go. So I started it. XD But also, want to blame/thank Megs. Because of her Alexandria and Ryder get cameo appearances in this! But they are not meant to take over the story. XD

Since real life problems kinda beat me around, I've been having a hard time getting back into old writing disciplines. As I'm sure you've noticed by how slow I've become. Been trying to make the effort to write more, but it hasn't been happening YET. However I feel very excited about this idea, and maybe a new idea is what I needed to get kicked into writing more often. Please don't think I am abandoning any other fics to work on this one.

-Michelle


	2. Chapter 2

Allura had found it chaotic moving about the corridors, the people present panicking in their attempts to flee and find a safe place. It hadn't mattered to them if that safe place was on the ship, or somewhere beyond it, many grabbing as much as they could carry before making a mad dash for the emergency escape pods. It hadn't seem to matter to them that there was an intense laser fight going on outside the ship, that the escape pods would put them directly in the line of fire. Nor had they cared that Drule pirates were notorious for shooting down those who tried to escape, or that they never left behind any witnesses to their raids.

A part of Allura could understand the panic. They were all faced with unappealing choices, to flee and die, or to remain and be enslaved. Some weren't even guaranteed that, the old and disabled sure to be killed on the spot, rather than burden the Drules with unwanted mouths to feed.

But more than panic, Allura felt a certain despair that numbed her insides. It kept her from going hysterical like some of the other women present, kept her from fainting like the overly bejeweled Duchess of planet Minshire had. She hadn't even been able to cry, nor had she returned to her cabin, wandering listlessly back and forth.

Alexandria, the priestess, was with her, ever concerned over the state Allura was in. She had pointed out that Allura had entered into an extreme state of shock, a statement Allura could acknowledge as true. But she seemed unable to snap out of it, the despair making her depressed, and making her feel guilt. Extreme amounts of it, Allura feeling she was to blame for what was happening now.

It was a guilt she couldn't share with the priestess, not even to ask for an absolution from her sins. Alexandria seemed trustworthy enough, but Allura remained steadfast in her decision to hide who she really was, and what world she came from. Thankfully the priestess did not press her for such details, more concerned about Allura's state than anything else.

The concern didn't make Allura feel any better, the princess feeling worse to receive it. But then, didn't everything that had happened and continued to happen, have that effect on Allura? She'd actually cringe when the screams began in earnest, the already chaotic situation erupting into pure pandemonium as the last defenses were broken through, the emergency doors being forced open.

The pirates flowed into the corridor, having at last made it to the passenger deck of the ship. Beyond them, past the forced open doors, bodies could be seen slumped over in puddles of blood. It was the yacht's crew, those men having giving their lives to try and protect the passengers from a menace that seemed unstoppable.

For one all too long moment, Allura could only stand with her mouth open, gaping at the sight of the pirates. She was barely aware of the tugging on her arm, Alexandria urging her to move. They were bumped into several times, people running, not looking where they were going in their attempts to flee. Only the priestess hold on Allura's arm, kept the princess from falling to the ground.

The pirates swarmed forward, swords in one hand, laser pistols in the other. But they hadn't begun shooting, the Drules seeming to feed off the panic and terror the mere sight of them caused in the passengers. While the passengers were terrified, the Drules were excited, laughing and joking to each other in their own language, perhaps giving out commands or suggestions before they began breaking from the pack to chase down individuals.

The Drule pirates were organized, no one crossing each other's paths, or targeting the same victims. Even as the screams intensified, people running, some locking themselves inside their cabins, the Drules never lost sight of their focus. They went after the people who remained loose first, the ones who hid having accomplished nothing save to trap themselves in one place. A few brave souls, actually tried to fight, holding inadequate weapons in their hands such as a broom or a pool stick.

Still some distance down the corridor, Alexandria and Allura pressed against a wall as others ran past them. A woman was carrying her small daughter in her arms, the child's face tear shrieked and red colored. A man half carried, half dragged his heavy set wife, the woman swooning against him and barely able to keep her eyes open.

The Drules stayed focus on the ones who were running, chasing them down, cornering them. The passengers were being quickly subdued, their hands and feet bound with steel fiber restraints. The Drules were being careful to keep from killing any of the passengers, not even the ones who fought back. It was a small relief to Allura, for she had spied Jacquelyn out on the floor, flinging things at the Drules, before going wild with her fists and her legs, and even using her teeth to bite down on the Drule who tried to restrain her.

The bite seemed to infuriate that particular Drule, Allura crying out when he backhanded Jacquelyn across the face. Jacquelyn went out like a light, landing on the floor in a crumpled down position. The sight of her spunky attendant looking so small and broken, it finally broke Allura out of the shock that had filled her, galvanizing her into action.

"What are you doing?!" Came Alexandria's alarmed cry. Allura ignored her, having grabbed onto a jagged shard of porcelain, the vase it belonged to having shattered on the floor when the yacht turned over onto it's side. The sharp edges of the shard cut into Allura's hands, but she ignored the pain and the trickles of blood as she ran towards the Drule standing over Jacquelyn's prone form. She was almost to him, when she heard the priestess scream, fear and revulsion in her voice. It was a sound that compelled Allura to turn, the princess spying the priestess struggling with a Drule. The Drule leered at Alexandria, his one hand holding both her wrists captive, while another roamed over her body with blatant perversion.

With a challenging cry of her own, Allura charged the Drule who had hold of Alexandria. He was so consumed in his molestations of the priestess, he didn't even look up until Allura was slamming the shard into his back. It wasn't a killing wound, the man more annoyed than anything. He let go of Alexandria, drawing his sword as he turned to look at Allura. His eyes were enraged, a murderous light to them as he stared down at the princess of Arus.

Swallowing back her fear, Allura backed up a step. The Drule, who would have been handsome if not for the large scars that covered one half his face, advanced forward, actually daring to swing his sword at Allura. She screamed, the priestess screamed, Allura dodging back but not fast enough to keep her shirt from being torn open. Her breasts threatened to fall out, Allura quickly pressing an arm over them.

The pirate's rage did not lessen, his lips curling in a snarl as he shouted in the Drule language at her. He kept on trying to gut her with his sword, Allura always managing to stay just out of reach somehow.

"Leave her alone!" Alexandria cried, and began pounding her fists against the murderous Drule's back. She even went so far as to grab at the shard still embedded in his skin, wrenching on it, twisting it deeper into him. He roared, and lashed out with his arm, knocking the priestess into a wall. Allura heard her cry out weakly, followed by the sound of a body slumping to the floor. But she couldn't check on her, not while she had a pissed off Drule to deal with.

"This is all just one big misunderstanding..." Allura began, holding her hands up before her. "If we could just talk about it..."

The Drule snapped something at her in his language, Allura jumping to avoid his sword, only to have her body hit the corridor's wall. The Drule didn't so much as gloat, advancing on her with the intent to kill. Allura shook in place, unable to believe this is how it would end for her. She stared at her would be killer, and saw no mercy in his expression. The certainty that she was about to die, made Allura close her eyes, the princess whispering a prayer for forgiveness.

The final blow never came, Allura hearing a new voice shouting in Drule. Cautiously, she opened her eyes, seeing another Drule restraining her attacker. This Drule was handsome, with powder blue skin that was flawless from what she could see of it. His black leathers allowed much to be seen, an open vest that was sleeveless revealing much of his chest. His hair was cut short, raven black with vivid blue highlights frosting whole clumps.

The scarred Drule was nothing like this other pirate. Dressed in shades of brown, with purple color skin, and dishwater gray hair. He vibrated with intense, angry energy, arguing heatedly with the second Drule. The handsome Drule had no problem holding him back, the two snapping at each other in their language. After an eternity, the second pirate would fling the scarred Drule away from Allura, and quick as can be, drew his pistol, and shot a blast into the other's back.

From the way his clothing and flesh didn't burn away, Allura knew the shot had not been a killing one. He had only been stunned, perhaps to force him to sleep off his rage. The handsome Drule then turned to Allura, his gold eyes assessing.

"Why?" Allura finally managed to whisper, her voice hoarse from all the screaming she had done.

"Captain's rule. We don't kill women." He told her.

"Oh." Allura was sure she was entering back into shock, unable to say anything more than a single word. The Drule started to reach for her, and then Allura gasped. "Alexandria!"

"Hey!" The Drule cried out, more amused than anything when Allura ducked under his arm, and ran towards the priestess. The black haired woman was crumpled on the floor, Allura dropping down to cradle the woman against her. She looked up at the shadow that fell over her, the handsome pirate looking down at them both.

Allura didn't miss the way heat flared in the pirate's eyes, the princess's arms turning protective around Alexandria. "Leave us alone." She said firmly out loud. He didn't reply, at least not to Allura, shouting things in Drule. The other pirates reacted, Allura realizing this dark hair man was some kind of authority the other Drules listened too.

Another Drule approached, his hair a dirty white that was almost a light gray. He wasn't exactly handsome, but neither was he ugly. The dark haired pirate slapped a hand on his back, gesturing at Allura and Alexandria. Allura thought she caught the name Cossack, and then the handsome pirate was pulling Alexandria out of Allura's arms.

"Hey!" She protested, when the other pirate slapped cuffs on Allura's wrists,

"Sorry." He was hardly apologetic. " But we can't have you running around wild at the moment." He jerked her off the floor, Allura still struggling. Around them, many of the other passengers were similarly restrained, most of the screaming having died down to quiet sobbings. The pirates were now free to work on getting the cabin doors' open, and all too soon the people that had hid were also made the Drules' prisoners.

Allura found herself and the other women put in one of the larger room's. There was a lot of crying and quiet attempts to soothe each other. Even whispered conversations as women wondered what would happen next, and if there was a chance for a rescue. No one spoke of escaping at this point, not with several of the pirates standing watch over them.

Alexandria would eventually awaken, moaning at the pain in her head. She would be startled to see her hands in restraints, Allura quickly explaining to her what had happened.

"Thank you for rescuing me." The priestess said, still wincing from the pain of her head.

"For all the good my attempts did." grumbled Allura. "I nearly got us both killed..." She turned grudging then. "If not for that one pirate..."

"Then there is some good in the Drule after all."

"How can you say that?!" Allura demanded, aghast.

"He kept the other man from killing us." Alexandria pointed out.

"He didn't do it out of the goodness of his heart!" protested Allura. "If anything, he acted cause he didn't want to lose out on the money they could make off of selling us!" She grumbled then. "They're all the same...greedy, power hungry monsters."

"They can't all be bad..." Alexandria said. "Our holy teachings tell us that in every race, there is both good and evil that exist."

"The Drule might be the exception to that rule." Allura snapped. "And I don't just mean these pirates! Their entire empire is foul...they not only condone these pirates' actions, they fund them!"

Whatever retort Alexandria might have voiced, was lost to the worried murmur of the group. The pirates were back, many pushing and shoving at each other, to get into the room. The women, already tense with fear, backed further into the room, trying to hug and comfort each other as best they could with their hands in restrainst.

Several Drules walked into the crowd of women, grabbing at them, taking hold of their chin to force the women to look them in the eyes. Allura didn't know what was going on for real, save to think the Drule were trying to assess the women's worth.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Allura muttered. Alexandria could only nod, flinching when one of the pirates grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close. Watching, Allura saw the Drule caress fingers over Alexandria's face, murmuring something in a pleased voice. His silver colored eyes dropped down to her ample bosom, and a grin lit up his features.

"Don't..." Alexandria said, her voice tight with displeasure. "I am a holy woman...you mustn't treat me this way!"

The Drule ignored her, moving to nuzzled her neck as his hands cupped her breasts. He didn't get further than that, for suddenly he was pulled away, roughly flung out of the crowd of women. Allura stared in surprise at the dark haired Drule, recognizing him as the pirate from earlier. He had Alexandria in his arms, and Allura sword their was a fine tremor going through him before he reluctantly let go of the priestess.

"All right you mangy lot!" The pirate shouted, as the other Drules guiltily stepped away from the women, and in one case was dragged away. "You know the rules. Hands off until the captain gets here!"

"Captain?" Allura spoke loudly. "And then what happens when your captain gets here?!"

The handsome pirate turned to her, his face deadly serious. "Captain gets first pick of the loot."

"Loot?" Allura didn't get his meaning at first, and then her face turned red with her anger. "We are not loot!" She hissed at him. "We are living, feeling people, and we deserve better treatment than this!"

"Unless the captain says otherwise, you're all loot." The pirate told her. "To be used and sold as he sees fit."

"Hmph!" Allura turned away from him but was not quiet as she addressed Alexandria. "Still think the Drules aren't all evil?"

"I have faith that no one people is completely bad." Alexandria insisted. But she wasn't looking at Allura, but staring at the dark haired pirate. Allura didn't have to turn his way to know the man was also staring back at Alexandria. But while the priestess eyes were wide with innocent fascination, the pirate's gaze had never been anything but heated and dark. It was a look Allura didn't like, and as disturbed as she was by it, the princess could only be relieved the pirate hadn't looked at her in that manner.

But she wouldn't escape such a look for long, the pirates quieting down. She could hear footsteps approaching the room, the dark haired pirate shifting out of the group of women to hurry to the door. The pirates there moved out of the way, a new Drule entering the room.

Dressed in black leather that molded to his body, this Drule was also quite handsome. With long, flowing white hair, and light blue skin, he rivaled if not surpassed the dark haired pirate in looks. His body from what she could see, was chiseled perfection, the man moving with a dancer's grace. He had his sword sheathed on his hip, and he was in the process of drawing off his gloves.

"Ryder." said the man who Allura suspected was the captain of the pirates, addressing the dark haired Drule. "I see we have a good haul."

"Indeed captain." Ryder grinned. "Lot of able bodied slaves, loads of beautiful women, not to mention all the jewels and other valuables found in the cabins. It'll take days to divvy it up all properly."

"We wouldn't have it any other way!" laughed the Drule who might or might not be named Cossack.

"Indeed." Agreed the white haired captain. "Well let's get on with it."

Right." Ryder gestured, and began barking out commands, the pirates hurrying towards the frightened women. It took several minutes, but soon the women were all lined up., the pirate captain stopping before the first woman. He'd take the time to touch her face, to feel the softness of her skin, the plumpness of her lips. He'd stare and study at her face, touch her hair, even feel up her curves. By the time he was done with the first inspection, the woman was red faced and crying.

This is how it would be, the pirate captain walking down the line, inspecting the women who caught his eyes in that manner. Ryder and the other pirate followed him, murmuring things in Drule, perhaps making suggestions or pointing out observations. Allura found herself growing tenser by the minute, her eyes stormy with her glare.

Alexandria was in front of her in the line up, the priestess gasping scandalized when the captain began touching her. Allura couldn't fail to notice the way the pirate Ryder tensed up at that, a sullen look in his eyes as the captain inspected the priestess. Ryder would visibly relax when the captain stepped away from the woman, and then the pirate would be in front of Allura.

Her eyes widened as they looked at each other, Allura taken aback by how close he was. He looked at her with mild interest, touching and inspecting her in the same fashion he had done to the other women. She didn't cry at the indignity of this, though she did blush in embarrassment. Especially when he hands caressed over the exposed skin of her breasts, the captain leaning in close enough for them to kiss. He murmured something to her, Allura remembering to glare. That bit of defiant spirit seemed to delight him, the captain nodding.

"Take this one to my private cabin on the main ship." He said out loud. He handed her off to the pirate she thought was named Cossack, and the other Drules cheered. Within seconds of the captain leaving the room, a new kind of pandemonium erupted as the Drules rushed towards the women. They pushed and shoved at each other, jostling, downright fighting for the most beautiful women. Even Cossack took the time to grab a woman, before ushering them both out the room. Allura glanced over her shoulder, in time to see Ryder dragging Alexandria against him, while other Drules threw their chosen prey over their shoulders. There was even a few Drules who couldn't wait, already tearing open the women's clothes, and opening their pants for a quick fuck. Allura shuddered at the sight of the rapes, but she had always known it was a very real possibility with the Drules. Just as Allura was certain she would do whatever it took to ensure she stayed alive and healthy long enough to escape. Even if it meant submitting to a pirate's most perverted whims.

To Be Continued...

Two chapters in two days! Whoo hoo! *parties* And I really like this chapter, except for the last few lines. Had way too much fun with Ryder. May do a separate story, like a mini series for Ryder Alexandria since I really am trying to keep this story focused on Lotor Allura. So Ryder and Alexandria are more, whatever happens with them, it happens in the background, where you only would get snippets in this story about what is happening with them.

Next chapter is supposed to be a Lotor POV...not looking forward to the first half...hope I can explain some stuff, do certain things, and then get him in his cabin with Allura.

By the way, this is an alternate universe, so Lotor and Allura never met before, and don't know who each other is. :o

-Michelle

Lady Katherine29, heh it's his wild days just fresh off the Drule academy...or close to it! *giggling* And more than a little healthy or unhealthy dose of thrill seeking! XD I know right, Allura has the worst luck ever! Evevn when Lotor doesn't know she exists, he ends up capturing her! HA ha ha! Thanks for reading and commenting for me! *hugs*


	3. Chapter 3

Chests were packed tightly in the room, many of their lids open, their topmost contents on display. The gleam of coins could be seen, the gold and silver reflecting the overhead lights. Jewels twinkled, a glittering assortment of colors and types. There was even a few heavy statues, and vases with pretty patterns inked into their skin. In one corner there was an assortment of clothing, the finest silks and satins, with a variety of lace frippery sewn into their fabric.

The clothing alone was worth a small fortune, several hundred thousand credits to be had from the sale of them. The jewels would bring in even more money, and the coin chests were estimated to hold two million a piece.

Such was the wealth in this room, that a man could live several lifetimes, and never hope to spend it all. Not that Lotor wouldn't make the attempt, the Drule having expensive tastes, and even more expensive ambitions. Those ambitions went farther than being a pirate, Lotor dreaming of the day he would become King of an Empire. Maybe even two Empires if he played his cards right.

Doom and Demos were both equally appealing, though neither was yet in his reach. It didn't matter. Lotor would continue his illegal, black market activities, building up the fortune needed to fund armies, pay for the soldiers needed to fight his wars, and the weapons and ships that they would use.

Not all of the wealth inside this room was his. Roughly a third of the treasure would go to his men, to those loyal bunch who were ready to follow their captain to the very brink of danger provided the spoils of such actions were lucrative. They usually were, Lotor able to pick prime targets with an uncanny precision. This room was proof of that, holding the load of several raids, including the pirates' most recent. Yet another haul that had proved better than expected, the yacht having looked far too run down for the amount of treasure it had carried.

It was ridiculous, the lack of proper defense the yacht had had. Not that Lotor minded, enjoying the ease in which his men had disabled the ship of all it's protection. Of course it had been made all the easier by the fact they had had a new weapon to test out. A weapon the Drule had secretly been developing for quite some time, one that had made quick work of the ship's shielding, and was rumored to have the power to take down even a planet's protective barrier.

Lotor knew his father would be pleased with the results of the weapon's test, though Zarkon wouldn't like it that his son had ventured so far into enemy territory to use it. It didn't matter, the man thought his son reckless and a thrill seeker. He'd often tell Lotor that his bold nature would one day be the undoing of him, gruff with disapproval and yet unable to do anything to truly stop him.

Not that Zarkon truly made the attempt. Not when he had only an inkling of how deep his son's ambitions ran, and the danger they posed to the King of the Drule. But he couldn't prove anything, Lotor too careful on that front. Playing the somewhat dutiful son that balked at the crown's responsibilities. The image Lotor projected to Zarkon and the other nobles, was that of a spoiled, self indulgent, adrenaline junkie. Hardly suited at this point and time to take the throne.

Lotor grinned to himself, knowing there would be a lot of shocked politicians the day he finally made his move. He would prove just how big a mover and a shaker he really was, the whole of the galaxy quaking in response to the day Lotor became the King of an Empire or two.

"You seem pleased."

Lotor blinked, and turned to look at the pirate who was his friend and second hand man, Ryder wearing his own infectious grin.

"And why wouldn't I be?" Lotor asked, as one more chest was brought into the room by one of his other pirates. "Look at it, Ryder." A sweep of his arm took in the whole of the room. "Rich beyond our wildest dreams."

"And about to be richer." Ryder said. "There were a few notable names found on that ship. We'll make a fortune ransoming them off to their families."

"This just gets better and better." Lotor smirked. And those they couldn't ransom, they would sell off into slavery, Lotor recalling there had been quite a number of beautiful women captured among the people on the yacht. A few weeks with his pirates, and the majority of the women would be broken, trained to be the perfect toys for some rich man's pleasure.

"We've certainly been lucky with these last raids." Ryder shook his head then. "I don't know how you do it...how you always know the perfect mark."

"Lady luck has blessed me." Lotor told him.

"Figures." Chuckled Ryder. "You always did know how to charm a lady. Even a Goddess would lay down for that honeyed tongue of yours."

"Maybe. Though I prefer to keep away from that which is holy." Lotor didn't fail to notice the way Ryder sobered, the amused look leaving the dark haired Drule's eyes. Lotor didn't have to think hard to wonder at the reason, recalling there had been several priestesses aboard the yacht, including the woman the other pirates had whispered Ryder had taken for himself.

Not many of his Drules would consider defiling a holy woman, too many of the pirates mired deep in their religious faiths. And though Lotor himself wasn't particular religious, even he had second thoughts when it came to deciding just what to do about the handful of priestesses they had captured in the raid.

It was also surprising to hear Ryder having expressed interest in one. Beautiful though she may be, she was still a woman of faith, and was bound to reject Ryder's amorous intentions. Lotor tsked inwardly, giving Ryder a look. "Did you really claim a priestess for your bed mate?" He asked out loud.

A Drule couldn't blush like a human and yet Ryder look almost embarrassed. "So what if I did?" And that was confirmation enough.

"Just doesn't seem like you." Lotor commented. "You like challenge not a downright impossibility."

Ryder frowned. "Are you saying you think I can't seduce her to my bed?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Lotor gave him a pitying look. "You've never been one for outright force, and frankly I can't see how you would get her otherwise." He chuckled then, holding up his hands in a warding off gesture. "Don't look at me that way, friend. You know how these holy women value their virtue. They are married to their beliefs, and won't give it up for anyone, let alone a nefarious pirate."

Ryder was still glaring at him, though the expression was more sullen than angry. "She is beautiful..."

"That beauty will be cold comfort when you sleep alone for the next three weeks."

"Three weeks?" Ryder was all too eager for the chance to change the subject. "Am I right in assuming those three weeks entail a journey to a certain black market outpost?"

"Right you are." Confirmed Lotor. "It's time we set about to liquidating this treasure. If our ships become any heavier with such loads, we won't be able to fly nearly as fast, if at all."

"I'll report to our navigator, and have him set a course for the outpost then." Ryder said.

"Do that." Lotor followed the dark haired Drule out of the treasure room. He'd pause long enough to lock the door with one of the only keys capable of opening it. He trusted his men, but only to a point, never knowing when one might take it to steal more than the promised share.

"When Cossack has a moment, get him to start work on identifying the individuals we can ransom. I want to know just how much those people are worth, and if we can force their families to pay such a price."

"Right." Ryder said, and started up the only staircase in this part of the ship. Lotor was close behind him, though they went their separate ways once they reached the main deck of the ship. The halls were not empty here, the pirates that were still on duty sticking to their designated routines. That included the ones responsible for keeping the ships flying, the look outs, the computer experts, the technicians and electricians. They weren't down to a bare bones crew, Lotor adamant that a full contingent of Drules be on duty at all times. His men understood that, though many were eager to end their shifts, and enjoy themselves with the newest of the women that had been captured. There was almost enough women to go around, though those lower in the chain of command would be forced to make do with the less than desirables.

It wasn't just the women that would be used. A few of his pirates' inclinations went towards their own sex, and when it came to the cliental the Drules sometimes catered to, not even men were safe from ending up a rich man's toy.

Not that Lotor could truly understand the appeal. He had and always would prefer the company of women, taking comfort from their soft and curvaceous bodies. But he tried not to judge, well aware that a few of his pirates even found Lotor himself an attractive, desirable being.

Lotor himself, was aware of his own desirability, having had many a woman swoon at the sight of him. Even those that were at first reluctant, could admit to an attraction. Lotor enjoyed such attention, loving the fact that women found him handsome and downright irresistible. He almost didn't mind the fact that the women he went after, offered him little to no challenge, most days Lotor content with the results those that were easy to seduce yielded.

It was a good life that Lotor had. A life he expected to continue in much the same manner. Never did he suspect that soulful blue eyes would hold the power to uproot it all, Lotor assuming this new woman would act like all the rest, and eventually fall into line and become an obedient, docile creature.

He was already anticipating just how tonight would go down, right to the moment he opened the door to the captain's private cabin. Unlocking the door with as much sound as he could make, Lotor was prepared for an attack. Expecting the woman to either slam down one of his many bottles of expensive rum and brandy on top his head, or to find her flinging the bottle and anything else she could lift, at him as he entered the room.

It was almost a ritual, the hysterical captive, always ready to try and hurt him in a foolish attempt to escape. The women he picked, never thought things through past what they would do if they managed to knock their tormentor out, never considering there were many other lusty Drule pirates wandering the halls. Many who would be quick to teach an unchaperoned miss the error of her ways.

Entering the room carefully, Lotor was most surprised when nothing smashed into him or the wall. Nor was the woman hiding, or locked in his bathroom, instead sitting calmly in his favorite over stuffed arm chair. She stared at him, her hands clasped together and primly positioned on her lap. Lotor let the door close behind him, a bit bemused that all the woman was doing was glaring. There wasn't even a hint of tears in her eyes, the woman seeming completely in control of herself.

He didn't think that control would last. She was bound to let her emotions get the worse of her as she began to realize the severity of her reality. Why he thought all it would take was a few predatory looks, and the unfastening of the buttons on his jacket, and the woman would give in to hysteria's first push.

Walking towards her, his nimble fingers began to undo the first two buttons of his jacket. He stared at her as he did this, his own look dark, menacing. He noticed her pitiful attempts to repair her torn blouse, the woman somehow having found a few safety pins among his things. Lotor also noticed how the sky blue and gray clothing did her beauty little justice, the woman looking completely out of place in the servant's outfit.

_~She'd look a dozen times better out of them than in.~_ That thought truly brought the heat to that look of his, Lotor smirking at the woman. She didn't even shift in discomfort, just maintaining her glare. Lotor stopped unbuttoning his jacket halfway down, reaching the chair, and bending so that his hands were on both arm rests, caging the woman in.

"Well pet, have you been enjoying the accommodations?"

Slowly, she tilted her head back, Lotor close enough to her to steal a kiss. Somehow he restrained himself from taking it, actually wanting to hear what this woman might say. Wondering if she had the strength to maintain her unaffected facade, and speak at the same time.

"It would be fine..." She began, her voice strong in tone. "If not for the fact this room is nothing more than a prison."

"A prison?" Lotor was amused. "Dear girl, this room is far from that. What prison do you know that has such comforts, such wealth on display?" There was treasure even here, a few open chest with some of the more ostentatious baubles spelling out of them. "Why do you know how many would kill for a chance to drink my wine, to use my shower, to lay in my bed?"

Her eyes briefly left his face, a nervous flicker to them as she glance at the aforementioned bed. It was enormous for the size of the room, taking up a significant portion of the floor. Silk sheets were spread across the mattress, and atop them lay a velvet coverlet. The bed's frame was bolted to the floor, and a dozen pillows lay plumped at the head of it. It was a bed more than adequate for his needs, able to hold Lotor and several women at once. Though right now all he wanted was one, this intriguing blonde beauty who had yet to react in the predictable fashions.

"All gained through criminal activities, no doubt." Tone dismissive, she turned back to him. The bed had unnerved her, but her indifferent mask was already back in place.

"Does it really matter how the things were acquired?" Lotor asked. "It won't change that they are here, and that they will be used, the bed included."

"I suppose a criminal would never understand the true value in working hard for things."

"Oh?" He arched an eyebrow at her. "And you do?" He quickly caught her right hand, drawing it away from her lap. Running his fingers over her skin, seeking out the calluses that would accompany the hard work servants were known to do. He wasn't that surprised to find her hands smooth and soft, as though this woman had never known a day of true labor.

"So tell me pet, what is it you do?"

"Do?" Her brow furrowed together. "Isn't it obvious." With her left hand she gestured at her clothing. "I am a servant. I cook, I clean, I do whatever my mistress asks of me."

"She must not ask of you very much." A quizzical look from the woman, Lotor smiling down at her. "Not only are your hands too soft, you have no dirt under your perfectly manicured nails." Now she did flush, embarrassed at being caught in the lie.

"Hmm? Not going to argue with me on this?" Lotor hadn't let go of the woman's hands, his fingers stroking down to the pulse point in her wrist. Her heart beat a little faster than normal for a human, betraying that the girl was indeed nervous.

"I see no point in having to explain myself to a criminal."

"No point indeed...but I can't help wondering about you." Lotor said, his voice going lower in tone.

"Please don't concern yourself with me."

"How can I not?" Lotor asked. "You are a fascinating enigma." Now he pressed in close to her face so that they were cheek to cheek, Lotor reveling in that seemingly innocent touch. The fresh clean scent of her, the shampoo she used to clean her hair, enveloped him. "You don't smell like cleaning chemicals."

She reacted, trying to draw back startled. He pressed forward, pinning her against the chair's back, and continuing to nuzzle against her cheek. "In fact, the perfume you wear smells like something expensive."

"And you would be an expert on women's perfume?" Startled though she was, the woman was also sarcastic.

"I've given enough bottles as gifts to recognize a brand I favor." Lotor told her. "And this is not something just anyone can afford. So tell me miss...just exactly what are you?"

"I'm just a servant."

"Liar." Lotor mocked.

"Then why would I be in such an outfit?"

"Why indeed..." He murmured, his fingers going into her hair. She stiffened in reaction, but he paid no mind, too busy unraveling her bun so that her waist length hair fell down in a cascade of gold. Lotor couldn't wait to see her laid out on his bed, naked and framed by that glorious mane of hair.

But he didn't let such thoughts distract him, Lotor pulling back to look at the woman. "I of course have my theories."

"Oh?"

"You want to hide who you really are." Lotor gave her a questioning look, acting like he couldn't possibly figure out why she would do such a thing. " But what purpose would that serve?"

"What purpose indeed..." She murmured softly.

"Unless...you thought to avoid burdening your rich family with a ransom demand?"

She didn't quite manage an unconcerned laugh. "My family is hardly rich."

"Rich enough I'd say." He was pointed, touching her too soft hands once more. Now she really did shift uneasily, Lotor grinning. "You've been spoiled, a pampered princess who has had her every whim taken care of."

"No, you're wrong." She stammered, a visible bundle of nerves.

"I can see the truth of it. You're a LADY." He said it as though lady was a dirty word, Lotor downright mocking. "You have the grace and poise of one, you even speak with a learned precision the servant class does not." She had gone pale, though her face still maintained a natural expression.

"So tell me, pet..." He was leaning in close once more, his fingers catching at the woman's hair to keep her from avoiding the brush of his lips on hers. "What IS your name?"

"My name?" She stammered in such a way Lotor wondered if he had succeeded in pushing her to the verge of hysterics. "Why should my name be important?"

"Because..." He grinned slow and predatory at her. "I'll be wanting to know what to call out during our love making."

To Be Continued...

I'm actually drawing a blank at what to say for this author's note. Except to party that I finished another chapter so quickly. This story has me really inspired! WHoo hoo!

This chapter was a little harder to write than one and two. I just had a hard time finding the right opening paragraphs. I also had several ideas why Lotor's pirates could have been in enemy territory raiding ships, but I think I picked the best explanation...I hope!

One last thing...I am strongly debating, almost decided on something. Okay Ryder and Alexandria were gonna be limited in appearances since I thought to do a side story for them separate from the main fic. Mainly for two reasons...one being there is gonna be a major time skip at one point in the fic, and I thought what do I do about Ryder and the priestess during the off screen time skip?! My other reason was I was worried if I did two couples, the fic would get stalled if I got stuck on Ryder Alex. But then I realized I could get just as easily stuck on Lotor Allura, and the fact is, it might makes things easier on me to switch back and forth from the two couples...So I think I will merge the main and side story together, into one fic...though I still worry big time I will get stuck before the time skip happens. -_-

-Michelle

Lady Katherine 29, thanks again! Glad you like Alexandria so much. Ah don't worry, even if I don't merge the side story with the main story, you would see get some more appearances by her. I'm honestly conflicted on if I should merge or do a seperate story for the priestess and the pirate. I have to make a decision soonish too...*thud*

Also, Alexandria and Ryder (And Sabbath but he;'s not in this story.) are original characters of mine that are what I call recurring OC's. Meaning they've appeared in other stories, though the stories they've been in aren't directly connected. Ryder first showed up in a minor role in Animal Attraction, and then Divine Misunderstandings. I had a few people clamoring for me to give him a love interest and to tell his story. Well they finally got their wish with the story Duty's End, which is currently up to...I think chapter 36 or 37.

There are so far five povs in Duty's End, Lotor, Allura, Ryder, Alexandria, and Mara a female Drule OC of mine who is posing as Allura and is very hot for Keith! XD I don't think you ever read that one...I need to work on the next chapter too. ^^;; But I feel like I didn't do that good a job for like the first 15 chapters...I feel I got confidant and found my footing after those first 15 chapters...but I don't know how to rewrite those first chapters to make them better to ME.

Anyway, the story is about how Zarkon is a super twisted, evil tyrant that abuses everyone. Pretty much everyone, including Lotor and the Drule have suffered some kind of trauma and abuse at his hands. Lotor is so damage from all the beatings and nearly dying from severe torture for protecting Allura from his dad, that he finally comes up with the scheme to just run away from it all. And take Allura, and as many trusted friends as he can to escape to another galaxy. Course what he and Allura don't know, is the other Drules want Allura to help heal the damage done to Lotor's mentality, help him overcome his tortured past, so he can defeat Zarkon, and usher the Drule into prosperity. Course there's romance going on, with three main couples, and at least one non POV couple to happen eventually.

I"m gonna talk your ear off with ideas. Real life and health/pain problems cause of health issues, has been keeping me down. It's not as bad as it once was, so I am trying to get back into writing at least half as much as I did. But even when I was too out of it to actually write, I kept coming up with new ideas. One such idea is another Merla centric one, where she got pregnant by Lotor, but he didn't know until after they were divorced and she left for a while. When she does announce the birth of his child, it's to use the kid as a pawn to wrest control of the Empire from Zarkon and Lotor. So Lotor will pretty much have to kidnap his own kid, and of course Merla goes crying to the Voltron Force to help her protect the child! It's a Lotor Allura romance too but I won't reveal everything, just the main plot so far. I really want to write it too...so many ideas, so little of me. =/ I also have to write the next chapter of the Love Hate game. but right now pirate Lotor has me in his grip! Ha ha!

I'm not sure what if any role Haggar will play in the pirate fic. However Merla I've been thinking she is like the black market queen...all roads lead to her, when you want to trade ill gotten goods, or deal with the slave markets. I'm not sure how big a role this will become...but she should at least put in an apperance eventually. But first they have to reach that outpost! I worry I didn't give them enough time for something...Just because something has to be done that affects what happens when they get to that black market outpost. ^^;;

Lotor and Allura in this, while not full on non con (i hope...*mutters darkly at Lotor) is going to be more a dubious consent issue. Like she consents to it, but because she feels he's her best option to stay safe. I'm not sure how this chapter comes off...I was trying to portray that Lotor is used to the reluctant captives who cry and pitch fits, and have mass hysteria over everything...that they''re all so predictable...I'm trying to write it that maybe he didn't realize it, but he was getting bored with the same kind of routine/reaction from the captured women he takes to bed. So that Allura who is putting on such a brave front, is like this intriguing prize, cause she doesn't react the way he expects, and is pretty practical about the fact that they're going to sleep together. I'm still debating about the virginity thing...I thought for sure I would have her be one, but then I thought of something where maybe Lotor thinks she's a courtesan, because she isn't a virgin! But we'll see how it goes, cause I also had a vivid scene in my mind where he kisses her, and realizes she had little to no experience cause she doesn't know how to kiss right. XD I have too many ways the scene could go...and they're all so intriguing!

Ah...I wrote practically a novel in reply! I hope you don't mind all my babbling, and my fic plug. I'll blame it on I haven't had enough sleep, but am in that in between state of tired but not enough to pass out yet. Thanks for reading and putting up with all my fic ramblings! *hugs*


	4. Chapter 4

Silence followed his purred out statement, the woman shocked, her lips parted in slack jaw disbelief. It wasn't quite the reaction Lotor had expected, no scandalized gasps, no stricken look of horror. It was as though his beautiful captive had readied herself for such an eventuality, steeling herself to not let so much as a single tear or protest fall. She certainly didn't erupt into hysterical weeping, didn't slap him for his audacity, didn't scream and faint in response. She didn't do any of the expected things, as though she scorned the idea of being as predictable as the women who had come before her.

It was oddly refreshing, Lotor finding this woman was making things a whole lot more interesting for him than if she had settled into the weeping role of a damsel in distress. And it was that interesting that had him pausing, waiting for her to say something rather than take advantage of her open mouth.

She recovered enough to close her mouth. Then promptly opened it to let out the softest sounding laugh he had ever heard. It made him want to smile, Lotor thinking it had been a long time since he had heard a woman truly laugh. Or heard a laugh that didn't hold any malice or perverse enjoyment at another's expense.

Her expression was almost amused, a softening to her eyes as she looked at him. "Captain..." She said, her voice almost chastising now. "We may do many things in this room and on that bed. But one thing I can assure you, it will not in any way be considered love making."

Lotor blinked slowly in response to that. The woman gazed back at him, serious and practical about what she thought would happen. And she was right, it wasn't true love making they would do. Not when neither one of them was in love with the other.

Amused once again, Lotor stroked the back of his fingers against one soft cheek of hers. "Dear girl, you are absolutely right. There's no need to sugar coat what will we do. I will fuck you. and you me, and a grand time will be had by all."

Two spots of pink bloomed on her face, the woman wincing at his choice of words. Now it was Lotor's turn to laugh, the Drule delighted again by this woman who could be so practical and bold, and yet still flinch at too coarse a term spoken.

"A grand time will be had. But it will not be I who enjoys it."

"Trust me pet..." He thumbed her bottom lip, noting how full and lush looking her mouth was. "When I fuck you, you WILL enjoy."

She stiffened then, narrowing her eyes at him. "Must you say that word?"

"You mean fuck?" He grinned, the satin feel of her lip against his thumb arousing him as he imagined how his dick would feel sliding across those rosy lips of hers. "But that's what we will be doing."

"You needn't be so crude!" She protested.

"Does it offend your ladyship's sensibilities?" Lotor teased. "Ah but it's best you set aside such things...else you'll never get through the night if you allow yourself to be shocked and bothered by such things. After all pet, we will be doing a lot more than just talking."

"Yes. I realize that." She was cross now, glaring. It made him want to kiss her anger away, to see how much time and effort it would take for his lips to coax a sweeter disposition from his captive. But Lotor knew if he truly kissed her, he wouldn't be able to stop. Not any time soon. But he was enjoying their verbal banter, liking how she continued to surprise him with her refusal to conform to the predictable patterns a woman in her position would normally follow.

"You're such an enigma." Lotor finally murmured. He stepped back from the chair, studying her with blatant curiosity. "You're not shocked by what will happen, and you want no illusions between us about what this night really is."

"I am being practical." She said, with haughty lift of her chin.

"Not many are when put in your situation."

"And I'm sure you have had extensive experience with this!" She snapped.

"I've been a pirate for several years." He acknowledged. "You are not the first to be captured on one of my raids."

"Nor will I be the last."

"Let's not think so far ahead to the future." Lotor told her. "For the present time, you are here, and you are mine."

"Captain, you may consider me many things. But the one thing I am not, is yours."

He loomed over her, using his height and size to intimidate the woman sitting in his favorite chair. She didn't shrink back in fear, glaring up at him defiantly. He smirked, being sure to flash his pointed fangs at her, then spoke.

"You most assuredly are. For the duration of this trip, I own you, body and soul."

"You can't own a person that completely!" She protested, disturbed.

"Drules have built whole civilizations on the act of owning people." Lotor shrugged. "Whether you are ransomed or sold as a slave, it doesn't matter. I will decide your fate, and if I say you belong to me, then it's really that simple. "

She stared at him stone faced, Lotor waiting. He knew he would be immensely disappointed if she threw out some hysterical statement about how he might own her body, but never her heart or her spirit.

"You are STUPID if you think it's really that simple."

Again he blinked, taken aback. There wasn't many who would dare call him stupid, and even less that would live to tell the tale.

"But go on." She mocked. "Keep on saying you can control and own a person so completely. We'll both know the truth."

"You dare to challenge me?" He asked with a lift of his eyebrow. She nodded, and he laughed. "You are proving a delight."

She looked insulted. "I am not trying to please you in any way!"

"Pity for you, but it seems you can't stop yourself." He was grinning again. "I can see this trip is going to be more entertaining than first anticipated."

"And just WHERE are we going?" She demanded, quick to try and distract him.

"You needn't concern yourself with that." Lotor replied. "In fact, you needn't concern yourself with much of anything, save to think of ways to keep me happy and entertained."

"So now I am to play jester in addition to satisfying you sexually?!" She scoffed. "Is there no end to your demands?"

"No, none." He told her. "As you will soon realize. Now come. Have a drink with me."

"No, thank you." She said firmly.

"It wasn't a request." He told her, his hands reaching for her and guiding her up out of the chair. He didn't release her arm once she was standing, the woman reluctantly allowing herself to be walked over to the bar set up in the corner of the cabin.

"So...you're a drunk as well as a louse." She said with disdain, eyeing the many bottles that were revealed once he opened the bar's bottom cabinet.

"Hardly." Lotor chuckled. "I just appreciate a fine wine." He began to uncork a bottle, making no effort to find out which if any she would prefer to drink.

"There's appreciation, and then there is over indulgence." She muttered, taking the glass from him. He tried not to have expectations of what she would do, knowing the women in his past had fidgeted rather than drink, one even going so far as to throw the drink at him in a foolish display of tantrum. But this woman here began to resolutely drink, not sipping but downing half the cup in a few swallows.

She didn't balk at the taste of the wine, leaving Lotor to think she was familiar with drinking such a thing.

"Are you intending to get me drunk for this?" She asked when he immediately refilled her cup. "Or perhaps purposefully starving me?"

"You are hungry?" Lotor asked, downright amazed and wondering if her nerves would really allow her to eat something.

"It's been hours since I had dinner. Why it's got to be close to morning if we go by the universal standards of time."

"I see I've been remiss in my duties as your host." A snort from her, letting him know what she thought of that. "Very well...I can do something about your hunger." Just as she would do something about his. "But first you must do something for me."

A suspicious look his way, Lotor laughing in response. "No, not THAT. Though there will come a time soon enough when it will happen."

"Then what?" She demanded, the suspicious look in her blue eyes hardly going away.

"Allow me to do something about those dreadful clothes."

She frowned. "What is wrong with my clothes?!" The frown became unforgiving when he blatantly looked her over, his own eyes disapproving of the sky blue and gray uniform.

"They are hardly suited to one of such beauty. Ill flattering, downright ugly, this disguise of yours has got to go."

"This is no disguise!" She protested.

"Your protest fools no one, pet. Least of all me." He turned coaxing. "Come. Agree to my bargain. It is harmless enough."

"If you don't feed me, I will faint from hunger."

"Then you best hurry and get changed." Lotor set down the bottle, and took the glass from the woman. She followed him, a suspicious frown on her face, as he headed towards his closet.

"And just what will I put on?" The woman demanded. "Something of yours?" She started to scoff, but stopped at his smile.

"I find I like the idea of you in one of my shirts all too much."

"It would hardly be appropriate!" She protested.

"On a pirate's ship there is little that isn't appropriate." Lotor told her. "But worry not, I have just the thing." He didn't have to dig far, finding a selection of a few woman's dresses he kept on hand for just such a situation. His pretty captive took the black silk from him wordlessly, though her eyes gleamed with an unspoken question.

"I like my women to look and dress a certain way." He explained. That frown appeared again, but she didn't waste her breath on needless protests about not being one of his women.

"One would think you would prefer them to wear nothing at all!"

"I do prefer that look on occasion." He agreed. "But there is something to be said about the eroticism of a certain kind of clothing." Another grin flashed her way. "And of course, I do so enjoy peeling a woman out of her clothing."

She turned her nose up at that, disdain in her every expression. "And just where am I supposed to get dressed without risking you jumping on me at the first sign of skin?"

"A woman like you is at risk of that even if you showed no skin at all." Lotor told her. "But, you can change over there." He nodded at the one corner of his room, where a large dressing shade stood. On it's front was a water color painting of a tall walkway, with green forests beyond it, and mountains that grew from the midst of it.

The shade was made of a thin paper, the kind that would allow him to see the shadowy form of her figure. He could tell the woman realized that as well, a disapproving look flashed his way, before she went behind it.

"The meal?" She reminded him.

"Ah yes, I'll get right on it." Keeping his eyes on the shade, he dialed down to the ship's kitchen. It was a simple meal he ordered, but more than enough food for two so that the woman would have no excuse to complain about quantities. It was also a meal of known aphrodisiacs, Lotor not at all trying to hide the message hidden in the food. He wanted her fed, and he wanted her aroused, ready to see to the latter through any means available to him.

By the time he was done ordering, his captive had stripped of her clothing. What hadn't been that apparent, was now revealed, the shadows defining clearly the curvaceous shape of her body. Lotor liked what he saw, sauntering over to his favorite chair. He hooked a leg over one arm rest, and sat watching her graceful movements as she began to shimmy into the clothing he had given her.

"Your name." He said out loud. "You never did tell me your name."

"And I am not going too." She insisted firmly. "Besides..." Her elegant fingers were adjusting the straps of the gown. "You've yet to introduce yourself to me."

"How thoughtless." Lotor said. "I am Lotor, captain of these ships, as you no doubt already surmised."

"Well I will not say it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"That will soon change." chuckled Lotor.

The shadow moved, the woman preparing to come around the dressing shade. "You are overly confidant..." She was saying. "In your skills, to think anything you can do would ever change my mind about knowing you."

"It's a confidence well earned..." But he was distracted, staring at her in the gown he had given her. The black silk was tight and clingy across her chest, it's long skirt billowing around her legs with her movements. Her arms were bare, the dress held up only by thin spaghetti straps that she kept trying to adjust.

"It's too tight." She complained. "I barely have room to breathe."

"You look stunning." He breathed out, his eyes on her. "Even more so than I had imagined."

"I feel indecent." She muttered.

"Trust me, you are not." At some point when she had stepped into view, he had sat up, both his feet now planted firmly on the ground. Now he patted his lap, inviting her to come sit with him.

"The food?" She asked, instead of accepting his invite.

"Will take a few minutes more to prepare." Lotor told her. "Till then we can talk."

"Talking is not what your eyes say you want to do."

"Then what do they say?" But he already knew, his eyes surely have grown dark, his lids heavy as he stared at her with keen desire and open appreciation on his face.

"I will not say. Especially not in the vulgar terms you prefer."

"I do want to fuck you." She winced at that. "But right now, I just want to touch you." Again he patted his lap, downright daring her to come to him. She let out a loud, put upon sigh, but did not refuse to his delight. It was also his delight to watch her move, her hips swaying slightly, in an unconscious seductive fashion.

She wasn't so bold as to not hesitate before him, Lotor reaching for her hips. He pulled her down, settling her firmly on his lap, his nose buried in her hair as he breathed in the scent of her.

"It really is too tight." She complained again, uneasy and refusing to relax against him.

"You won't have to wear it long." He murmured, knowing such a promise would only add to her unease.

A sigh was his answer, the woman shifting slightly against him. Lotor bit back a moan at that, wanting to touch her, to roam his hands all over her silk incased curves. But he knew once he started doing such things, he wouldn't stop for no meal. And so he tried to behave himself, or at least that was the plan.

"Why were you pirates in this sector?" The woman asked. He could tell she was trying to fill in the silence, perhaps even trying to distract herself from the fact he kept rubbing his cheek against her hair. "Pirates, especially those that are Drule, are not welcome here."

"Pirates aren't welcome anywhere."

"Except by Doom." She said.

He nodded. "Pirating has been very lucrative for that Empire. But I would say the current ruler tolerates us more than welcomes us." But that would change once Lotor sat on the throne.

"So even your own people disdain you."

"Is that what you think?" he asked, more amused than anything.

"Not that it matters to you what I think."

"On the contrary. I find myself fascinated by the way that mind of yours works." She shifted then, turning to face him with surprise in her eyes. Lotor found himself distracted by how close her face was now to his, eyes locking onto her pretty little mouth.

"Why would you be fascinated by that?" She demanded. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Not on this." Lotor said, though he was having trouble focusing on anything but how much he wanted to experience that mouth of hers. "You're proving to be quite a refreshing change from what I am used to."

"Why?" She asked. "Because I am being practical on what will happen? I hardly think I could be the only one..."

"Most women in your situation find it hard to think." Lotor told her. "They scream, they fight, they throw tantrums and have hysterics."

"What would be the point in that?" She truly sounded puzzled. "Crying would accomplish nothing, and you are much bigger and stronger than I am. There is no point in trying to fight you physically..."

"I suspect some women fight because it makes them feel better."

"Better how?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Many don't want the pleasure I give them. If they fight me, they can tell themselves they did no wrong, that they didn't really enjoy it."

"I am sure they didn't."

"And yet they ALL changed their mind, after they experienced my skill." Lotor told her, watching her sensual mouth turn down into a frown.

"Now THAT I don't believe." She started to shake her head no. "No one is that good..."

"I am." He told her, sinking fingers into her hair to secure a grip.

"Such arrogance!" She snapped, tensing up the moment before his lips covered hers. She didn't gasp, trying not to react in any way to his hungry kiss. It didn't matter. He'd force a reaction from her, Lotor's lips beguiling, trying to first coax a reaction from her that was beyond that determined stillness.

Her soft lips remained closed, Lotor nibbling at and kissing them. Pressure built between them, her lips seeming to quiver the second before their reluctant parting. Victory surged through him, Lotor not yet using his tongue to plunder the inside of this beauty's mouth. He was too busy noticing the way she kissed him back, a clumsy inexpertness that had nothing to do with hesitation or disdain.

Flicking his tongue one time against her lips, he pulled back to stare searchingly at her. She stared back, her eyes looking just a little wider than before. He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, giving her a small, sweet kiss that again made her quiver. That response was too telling, Lotor almost sure of the answer before he asked the question that had her flushing.

"You're not very experienced, are you pet?"

She didn't look away, proudly defiant. "I'm sure that won't be a problem for you."

"No problem at all." Lotor said smoothly, already moving to seal their mouths together. He practically purred, holding her to him, as his kiss became more demanding. He wasn't at all trying to pace himself, eager to taste all of her, and conveying such feeling with his lips. She couldn't help but respond, trying to mimic his lips' caress, trying to pretend she hadn't begun to tremble with her whole body, that she wasn't at all afraid or bothered by his attention. Lotor grinned to himself, thinking how enjoyable and interesting the remaining night would prove to be.

To Be Continued...

This chapter proved interesting to write. It was like I would write some, then take a few hours break. Then I totally blanked out on how to describe the kissing when he kissed her for real here near the end! X_X

I'm not sure which POV I will do for the next chapter. Might still remain a Lotor POV. We shall see!

-Michelle

Guest, thanks! Though I don't think I can maintain a daily update schedule. I've just been very fortunate these past few days to be able to write as much as I have! So I am enjoying it while I can write!

Lady Katherine 29, Thanks! For the hugs, for the well wishes and the support. *hugs back* :) I've been trying to game more too, but more often than not I get busy or lose track of time and wham! no gaming done. I played an hour of the after years today to celebrate writing four chapters in such a short amount of time. :) I would have played more, but got annoyed that this boss fight killed my party...and I hadn't saved...I read online the trick to defeating the boss...if I had known that tip, I wouldn't have gotten wiped out at all! *sighs*

Glad you like the ideas I talked about last time. Plot bunnies are whispering in my ear. Totally! Heh...let's just say later, much later in the story, Demos will have a bigger presence. In Corral's father no less! XD

I think I have to decide about the virginity for five. X_X Part of me thinks she wouldn't, since Nanny is in this universe. I had to have her not chaperone the trip Allura and the attendants were on, cause I figured Nanny would totally blow Allura's cover, by getting hysterical about the nasty Drule pirate going after her baby, the princess! *face palm.*

I have done at least two stories where she wasn't a virgin when she met Lotor. Cost of Regret, and one I never posted here...Chained Desires. In it Allura is a very sexual person, a slave keeping dominitrix, and Nanny is one too! Ha ha ha! Lotor ends up in ALLURA"S Harem...but I've been trying to figure out a side plot aside from the main stuff, cause otherwise the story is gonna be nothing but non stop sex for the first half. So that fic been stalled...eventually I planned to have Cossack infiltrate Allura's harem in an attempt to help Lotor escape, only to have him end up nanny's favorite toy! XD It's an AU of course, and Lotor is pissed about being in a harem. He'd be attracted to Allura, but he doesn't like being in the complete power of any one, let alone a woman!

I've been imagining Allura in this fic, since her dad is still alive, and arus isn't in ruins from any invasions, that Allura got the proper royal training, the grooming needed to become an excellent ruler. Not to say she's the perfect political figure (yet) but she's on the way. So she's used to dealing with all kinds of people, political or otherwise. So she knows how to act, um sorta like a proffesional gambler who knows not to let what they're thinking show on their faces, or betray what a good card hand they;ve been dealt. So I think inside she is scared, but she's also mad and thinking the hell if I'm gonna show that pompous jerk how scared I feel!

Just hoping I can keep up the interesting banter between them. What's the word...snark? She's snarky. But he enjoys it! *face palm but giggles* XD


	5. Chapter 5

Her stomach had begun to do a nervous fluttering, and the feeling had little to do with the fact that she was hungry. She had been uneasy for hours, too busy being brave, and then worrying about what was to happen to her. And now the inevitability she had worried the most about was upon her, the pirate full out kissing Allura.

It was difficult not to react, to not let out a girlish squeal of protest. But Allura refused to belittle herself in that way, too proud to do so much as gasp though the Gods know she WANTED to. Bad enough was the betraying quiver of her body, Allura starting to tremble with the first visible signs of her unease. She was sure the pirate noticed, but thankfully he didn't stop to comment on the fact.

No, instead he was too busy kissing her, his mouth hungry and demanding. She wanted to jerk back, but aside from the fact he gripped her by the hair, Allura simply didn't want to give him the added satisfaction of her resistance. Not when she had already decided against fighting him, against hysterics, and against being visibly afraid.

Allura was sure she knew his type, thinking the pirate the kind of man who would delight in a little struggle. He was after all a Drule, and those people were a barbarian race, the men practically vicious savages who enjoyed carrying off women against their will. The fact that Allura had seen several of the women being raped by the pirates, only added proof to the rumors she had based her every assumption on.

Allura didn't know nearly enough about the Drules. Having had no actual experience with the race, she had only viewed them from afar. She knew of their interest in her planet, in the rare mineral that had made Arus a most coveted world. She certainly knew of their threats, and the fact that the Drule made no secret of their intent to take the mineral by force. Allura knew rough estimates of the size of their military, of the number of the soldiers willing to fight for the Drule Empire. And of course there was the rumors of their cruelty, their ruthless ambitions, their merciless dispositions.

Those rumors left her in no doubts about the man kissing her, Allura sure there was further cruelty laying in wait to be triggered. The fact that he kissed her, meant nothing to him, beyond a moment's pleasure. He'd turn on her in an instant, just like he had no doubt had on the women that had come before her. The women he made no attempts to lie about, the pirate downright boasting about his success in making even the most reluctant of females enjoy herself.

Of course Allura didn't truly believe his claims. She simply couldn't fathom the pleasure that could be found from an unwanted act. And she was too uneasy, too attune to her fright and nervousness, to relax and notice if the kisses the pirate gave her were at all pleasant.

"You're not very experienced, are you pet?"

The question brought a flush of color to her cheeks, Allura angry at her reaction, and downright defiant as she avoided giving a direct answer to him. "I'm sure that won't be a problem for you."

"No problem at all." He purred like great big cat, moving to kiss her again. His kiss didn't gentle, just as hungry, just as demanding. And though Allura had been kissed by men before, never had she felt such a raw need focused in that action. The kisses she had had before? Chaste in comparison to the lustful way he had at her. She didn't feel that same desire, letting her lips move against his in a subdued attempt to at least mimic some of what he did. Allura told herself she did this, because it was expected, because he would demand her participation in more than just kissing. She might even delude herself into thinking if she kissed him back, he would gentle his actions, Allura having the opinion that that was infinitely better than rough.

But though she kissed him back, the pirate did not gentle or slow down the pace of his kiss. His lips were always moving, always exerting pressure, making Allura feel hurried to do the same. And then his tongue came into play, first doing teasing flicks that left her unable to properly taste him. Before Allura could decide if she preferred it that way, his tongue suddenly thrust forward, gliding past her lips to caress over her tongue.

It took all of Allura's inner strength not to jerk back with a cry of alarm. Her heart beat raced, the pirate actually plundering her mouth with his tongue in repeated succession. Warmth heated her flesh, Allura knowing she was blushing. Not just from his tongue's movements, but from the thought that had popped into her head. Once, she had heard someone say a man kissed like he made love, and if that was true...Allura couldn't stop the shudder from going through her, knowing he noticed, and almost not caring. Not when his tongue was rubbing over hers, taking time to caress the sides of her mouth, to learn by touch every inch it could reach.

She was really hoping he wasn't that thorough when it came to other expressions of desire. She simply wouldn't be able to stand it if it was true.

His tongue did one last caress, and then he was kissing at the corners of her mouth. It gave her the chance to breathe, Allura trying not to gasp in the process. He looked at her, and his expression was smug. It triggered her anger, Allura somehow managing not to growl as she put out the first complaint she could think of.

"Finally! One would think you were trying to suffocate me before the food arrives."

The smug look distorted, the pirate Lotor blinking at her. It actually took him a second to drawl out a response, his tone somewhat amused as he spoke. "Now that is the first time I have heard that particular complaint."

"I am honestly shocked." Allura told him. "One would think you are used to a multitude of complaints about your brazen behavior. "

"Not that many, once the initial resistance crumbles." She narrowed her eyes at him, the pirate smirking. "But I've hardly begun to be brazen."

"Oh lucky me, I can hardly wait to see you at your worst."

"Dear girl,my worst would still be an infinite times better than the best of the men you are used to."

"The men I am used to?!" She demanded, not able to keep the insult out of her voice. "And just what do you mean by that?!"

"Calm yourself pet." A stroke of his fingers against her cheek. "I meant not to offend. Simply I am pointing out the men of your past have been fools to have kept from experiencing you."

"Those so called fools are gentleman. I hardly expect you to understand or respect how they behave."

"Indeed I don't. I could never respect a man who holds back on his desires."

"You act as though those desires what motivates all!" Allura snapped.

"Doesn't desire motivate everyone to some degree? Be it the desire for food, shelter, or the desire for another person. In the end are we not just moving forward from one desire to the next?"

"I think you confuse desire with need. You desire the things you steal, the women you bed. You don't NEED to do those things, not like you need food and water to live!" Allura told him.

"Ah but what if I can't live another minute without tasting your lips?" The pirate asked her. Again she narrowed her eyes at him, glaring.

"Then I hope you would be so kind as to expire!"

"I would be wounded if I thought you really wished that." His fingers were back in her hair, the pirate Lotor already tugging her into place for another kiss.

"What makes you think I do not?!" challenged Allura.

He held off from kissing her, long enough to issue a bone chilling reply. "Because as badly as you do not want to be affectionate with me, I am a dozen times better a partner than any one of the number of Drules that make up my crew. They would not be half as nice as me, nor anywhere as patient."

"So I saw." Allura said, shuddering as she recalled the rapes she had witnessed the start of.

"Poor pet, did it upset you?"

"Yes, of course it did. What woman wouldn't be affected by the sight of such things." She felt his fingers relax their hold on her hair, the pirate no longer trying for another kiss.

"Is that why you've decided to be so docile?" He questioned, eyes intent on the study of her. Allura couldn't stop from scoffing, keen righteousness bubbling past the upset she had been feeling.

"I am hardly docile." She fixed him with a cold glare. "Make no mistake, captain, and think me tamed. If ever there came a time where I thought I could overpower you, or do you a great harm, I would not hesitate."

"I'll be sure to keep my sword, and any of the cutlery well away from you then."

"Do not mock me!" She snapped angrily.

"I am not." His hand cupped the side of her face, the pirate bowing his head so that his forehead touched hers. "But I won't leave an opening for you to harm ME or yourself."

"I can understand why you seek to preserve your own hide, but why care about mine?" Allura demanded, staring into his serious expression.

"You are proving a delight. I well expect to be entertained in and out of bed by you."

"I don't see how." Truthful was her tone, Allura frowning. "It's not as if I am trying to be pleasant."

"And that alone is a refreshing change..." She heard him murmur.

"And it's not as if I have any true experience to use towards pleasing you in bed." Allura continued.

"So virgin are we?" He asked, and she couldn't stop the flush that colored her cheeks. He laughed, delighted. "What you don't know, you can learn. I am, after all, a most excellent teacher."

"If your teaching is anything like your kissing, I will be left wanting indeed."

"Is that an invitation to try harder?" His eyes gleamed with predatory intent, Lotor catching at her shoulders, and pressing her more firmly against him.

"Do not misunderstand me!" Allura protested. "I like too much breathing and think too little of your kisses."

"Oh dear me. Then I really have done you wrong, if you're not going breathless with anticipation. Allow me to remedy this at once."

"Don't bother..!" Her words were muffled, the pirate's lips pressing against hers. No less prepared for it this time than the last, it was all Allura could do to keep from crying out. Not when it was too much, too soon. His mouth moving with the experience that surely had been earned on the lips of dozens of different women, the pirate Lotor used it all to overwhelm and kiss her senseless.

As uneasy as she was, Allura was also astonished. Shocked even, and downright appalled that even for one second, she could forget the situation, and the circumstances that had led her to being kissed by this pirate. Her heart actually pounded, though desire wasn't spiraling through her. But something else was, and it wasn't all disgust and revulsion, a kind of wildness that told Allura it would have been exciting to be kissed like this by a man who had courted her in the acceptable fashion.

Instead she was a captive, to be used and sold provided Allura didn't find a way to escape at least the latter. The reality of it, made her angry, her own kiss just as hard and unforgiving as his, her mouth contesting his in how rough it could be. Leaving the kiss hard, wet and deep, their tongues combative, Allura tasting sex, desire, and the pirate's dark delight in the response she had given him.

The blush was upon her, her cheeks surely turning as red as they could possibly be. Angry with him, and angry with herself for allowing such a heated kiss, Allura's hands touched the pirate's shoulders. The leather of his jacket wasn't at all like the silk of her borrowed nightgown, heavy where hers was thin. He probably couldn't even properly feel her touch, where as Allura keenly felt the sudden heat of his hands moving all over her.

She certainly felt it when his hand closed around one breast, Allura not quite managing to keep from jumping in place at that inappropriate touch. Certainly she was cursing the fact that the gown was such that she had to remove her shredded bra, leaving her vulnerable to his fingers' caress over her silk covered nipples.

She meant to push him away, but that unasked for touch distracted as much as shocked her. It was nothing like when Allura had touched herself there, the woman actually feeling something that wasn't completely unpleasant. The slightest of tingling, her nipples reacting to the pirate's insistent rubbing. It made Allura want to bite down on something, anything to keep from squealing.

The pirate almost got that sound from her too, the kiss abruptly ended. Startled and breathless, tingling at the very tips of her breasts, Allura stared wide eyed at the pirate. He was grinning, all too smug and pleased with himself. Allura thought she was very close to hating then, but his fingers kept on touching her. It made her wish she could do something just as infuriating to him, something to set him off balance and make him feel other than that smug self satisfaction.

But her knowledge of men wasn't as extensive as she required in this kind of situation. She didn't know any tricks, had only managed to hold her own in the kissing due to her own anger. And fiend that he was, the pirate Lotor had to know it!

He didn't even look properly winded from the kissing, sitting there almost picture perfect except for a few wild strands of hair that lay haphazardly in place. The makings of an idea concerning those strands had her smiling, Allura wanting to win one over on him, and thinking a bit of unasked for tenderness might be just the thing to set Lotor off balance.

Eyes that held desire for her, turned surprised when she tenderly brushed the strands to the sides of his face. He was even more so amazed, when her fingers lingered, Allura stroking his cheeks much like he had done hers.

"What's this pet? Have I suddenly won you over?" There was suspicion in his voice, but she didn't rise to the bait, Allura letting out a noncommittal sound as she brushed a kiss over his lips. Immediately he sought to deepen it, Allura sliding her fingers into his hair, tugging on it as she bit gently at his lip. He actually shivered in response, Allura licking over his lip, before plunging her tongue into his mouth.

It was different, the kiss, Allura used to receiving rather than giving. Certainly she had never been so bold as to thrust her tongue inside another person, let alone pulled on their hair. And yet here she was, not only kissing him, but having initiated it. He seemed just as surprised as her by the fact, Allura pressing against him, actually pushing her breasts into his eager and welcoming hands.

The fact that he began to massage and knead at her breasts, it made her own kiss falter. That second's hesitation led to Lotor taking control, the man practically feasting at her mouth as his hands wandered and caressed over her body. She felt every touch, felt it as though those hands encased in their gloves was touching her skin directly. What began as a squirming to evade those masterful hands, soon had her body thrumming with pleasurable awareness, Allura realizing she had done nothing save to speed her way on to total ravishment.

Inwardly cursing herself for her foolishness and lapse in judgement, Allura tried to speak. "Wait." She managed, her tone far too breathless, lending it a sultry quality Allura wasn't at all sure she liked. "Wait."

He stole kisses between every protest, Lotor's own breath harsh and rasping. She pulled as hard as she dared on his hair, half expecting him to snarl in response.

"I told you to wait."

"You don't invite a starving man to dinner pet..." His tone was chastising, but he couldn't pull of a reproachful look. Not with the naked desire that was plain on his face. "And then expect him to stop at the first bite."

She colored, heat warming her face. Worse yet, she had no true retort, not willing to explain herself, or the fact that she had angrily, childishly tried to best him in an area she had no business even trying.

It had to be the wine, Allura decided. It had been wrong to drink so much on so empty a stomach. It was leaving her vulnerable, making her do stupid things in the heat of the moment. Her foolish actions invited misunderstandings, had gained her even more troubles and unwanted attention, the pirate's hands moving in an attempt to draw up the long length of her borrowed gown's skirt.

"Dinner." She managed to say, tone urgent.

"Can wait." He decided, baring her legs to his hands eager explorations. The leather of his gloves was soft, brushing over her skin and bringing goose bumps in it's wake. She stared down at them, watching his hand's glide higher on her leg, her breath stalling in her lungs.

His hand on her calf, the pirate Lotor began to kiss along the side of Allura's jaw. Feather like, downright gentle, but no less insistent than the ones he had given her just seconds ago, Allura began trembling uncontrollably.

By the time he was past her knee, those kisses had moved down the side of her neck. Lotor found the pulse point there, tasted her rapidly beating heartbeat with his lips. Allura inhaled sharply, a sound building in her, wanting to come out though she fought it. and then his hand was on her thigh, fingers reaching, sliding over to the inside of it.

Immensely grateful she still had on her panties, Allura started to shift out of the straddle he had pulled her into earlier. His fingers brushed against her the edge of her panties, Allura's first instinct to freeze in reaction rather than fight or flee.

That moment of hesitation had allowed the pirate to cup his hand against her groin, Allura fully voicing her shock with a gasp. Never had she been touched like this, never had she allowed anyone to take such liberties with her body. The thin barrier that was her panties, did nothing to lessen the feelings impacting her, Allura shocked beyond belief. He did nothing more, but the strong hand on her most feminine part made her inner confidence waver. The brave front she had been maintaining, came that much closer to falling, Allura closing her eyes in an effort to concentrate on her breathing, to remember she wasn't to panic, wasn't to scream, and she most certainly wasn't to cry!

It was almost impossible, the pirate Lotor now slipping his hand into her panties. His gloved fingers touched her most secret spot, Allura giving an involuntary jerk of her body. Her eyes snapped open when his fingers began moving purposefully, Allura staring wide eyed and stricken at the fiendish pirate who was making a habit of studying her every reaction.

His hand drew up, fingers feather soft and moving over her flesh. Almost delicate were the touches, as though Lotor himself was aware she'd break if he pressed any harder. Touching her all over, his fingers feeling out every single inch of the furled flesh. By the time he began kissing her, Allura was moving, rocking in place a top his hand. It was humiliating, and yet she couldn't help herself, unable to stop and thinking she understood better why people went so crazy for sex.

Growing hotter yet, and bothered by the sensations coursing through her, nearly all thought flew out of her mind when his fingers touched on a most pleasurable spot. She almost wasn't aware of speaking, almost wasn't aware of the breathy moan she let out.

"Oh."

But fire was building in her, the heat seeming to center on the spot between her legs. Threads of pleasure were going through her, and in that moment Allura almost didn't want it to stop. Even as she knew she would be horribly embarrassed, might even hate herself for it once the fire cooled, and Allura returned to her senses. But her hand had locked around his wrist, as though she feared he was going to draw it away.

Moving with him, the flames caught hold of her, Allura suddenly arching, lips opening to scream. He kissed her then, eating up her sounds, his fingers never stopping their maddening rubbing. Even as she convulsed, went wild on his lap, Allura's only anchor her hold on his wrist, he continued to tease her.

She had a feeling he'd go right on teasing her all night, never stopping if not for the sudden knocking on the cabin's door. That snapped Allura back to reality even with Lotor's fingers still moving over her.

"Answer it." She said in a voice that sounded like nothing she was used to hearing.

"Are you sure, pet?" He nuzzled her hair, lips brushing against an ear that felt too sensitive. But then everything about her had become that way, reacting to him despite her desire not to. "There's so much more interesting things to be had than dinner."

Allura wasn't ready for things to progress any further. Hell, she hadn't been ready for the things he had done with his fingers, her cheeks still warm with her blush and arousal.

"You promised me a meal."

"Did I now...I honestly can't remember..." But he finally let her go, Allura practically flying as she scrambled off his lap and stood on shaky legs. Trying to act unaffected by what had happened, she began smoothing down the ankle length skirt of her gown. Eating was the last thing she felt like doing, Allura unsure she could stomach even one bite of food at this time. But she would try, grateful for the interruption the meal had given her, the time it bought her to somehow prepare herself for what would happen.

To Be continued...

Man...this chapter both did and did not give me troubles. The first kissing gave me the hardest time to write...and the chapter kept trying to go off track from what I wanted. Had to trash a few lines here and there to get it back to something I wanted. I like this chapter, but worry about it. Worry it seems stupid or something. X_X

-Michelle

Lady Katherine 29, ah cool. I saw the comments you left on my site about those fics. Thanks ever so much! Hope the site sent you my replies! :)

Oh man, I'd be hungry too...but probably be too nervous too eat. Probably just use the meal as a means to delay him from his horny intentions! XD I lost it laughing at your line about what Nanny would hire bounty hunters to do to him! XD

The harem thing...well I wonder. I mean he had all those blondes (and even a few other hair colors in at least one episode.) they never said Zarkon took his harem away in the show, and yet Lotor still chased Allura and Romelle. Kinda makes it seem like he always wants what he can't have, or is greedy for more! Thanks again!


	6. Chapter 6

He didn't immediately draw up out of the chair. Even with dinner waiting, and the delights that waited after it's eating, Lotor held himself still. Letting himself mourn the absence of the woman from his lap, missing the warmth of her body against his, and that of the pleasant feel of her bottom squirming in place over the erection that had tented most insistently against his trouser's front.

_~Gods!~_ He thought to himself, bringing a hand to rub over his face as if that action could somehow grant him a composure he did not feel. But she had set him off balance, fascinating him with her bold manner and way of speaking. Entertaining him, both by being interesting and amusing, at some point she had become dangerous. He could pin point that moment to the exact instant she had kissed him back, her anger taking control and surprising them both with the intensity of her passions. Already more fascinated than he should be, if Lotor wasn't careful, the woman would completely enthrall him within a few days' time.

It was that thought, that very real worry, that allowed him to stop from committing any further acts of debauchery in this instance. It made him almost grateful for the meal's interruption, for the chance it gave them both to calm down, and settle their thoughts and their bodies.

It was difficult, exceedingly so. With the scent of her still lingering in the air, her climax's juices still staining the fingers of one glove, and Lotor's own erection throbbing near violent in his pants, it was all he could do to keep from charging her, ripping off the gown, and throwing her legs up on his shoulders.

He wanted to be inside her, needing badly. And there in lie the danger, to take her when he himself was so out of control could prove disastrous. Lotor didn't want anything to get confused for him, well aware he would ransom or sell her into slavery once the outpost was reached. He certainly didn't want to become besotted of the woman, of any woman, and not just because there was a profit to be made. His life at the moment simply couldn't fit in a real relationship, a girlfriend a complication he didn't want or need. He had pirates to lead, empires to topple, thrones to take. Only once his own legacy was secure, could Lotor truly afford to commit himself to a woman.

So why even think about this now? He managed a frown, hoping sex after he had a chance to calm down from his surprise, would cure him of any unwanted feelings that were verging on forming attachments to his captive. Already those feelings had a strong pull on him, keeping Lotor from handing the woman over to one of his other pirates in exchange for another who wouldn't hold such a dangerous fascination.

Lotor knew if he was smart, he'd do that right now. Send the woman into the arms of whatever pirate had come to deliver the meal. And yet one look at her, and he rebelled against the very idea, Lotor cursing under his breath as he rose up out of the chair. She glanced at him, face still flushed with her own arousal, her eyes unhappy with what had just happened. Lotor supposed his own face matched that unhappiness, the pirate stalking past her without so much as a word when what he really wanted to do was grab and kiss her, throw her down to the floor and take what his body so badly wanted.

Gritting his teeth, Lotor headed towards the cabin's door. He stripped off his gloves as he went, tossing them and his jacket onto a chair. The pirate with the meal had yet to knock again, waiting patiently for his captain to answer, even if it should take another hour or two. And all because his pirates knew better than to interrupt Lotor when he was with a woman, especially on something as unurgent as a meal.

Yanking the door open, he spied young Smythe standing at attention, a covered platter held in his hands. Smythe who claimed to be eighteen but might have been as young as sixteen, bowed his head to Lotor in greeting. Lotor barely acknowledged him, snatching the platter from the young Drule. He got one last look at Smythe, whose silver eyes peered curiously past Lotor, as if trying to get a view of the woman the captain had claimed for himself.

Feeling possessive, maybe even downright jealous at the thought of another man seeing the woman when she was still in the flush of arousal, Lotor kicked the door shut behind him. If not for the platter he held, he might have done something insane, and all because of the maddening appeal the woman held for him.

Trying not to let any of his turmoil or thoughts show, he smiled at her then. It wasn't as playful a look as he had previously gave her, Lotor both moody and aroused.

"I hope you're ready to eat up." He said out loud. "My crew can boast of having one of the better if not the best cooks in all the galaxy."

"Oh?" She didn't look at all interested in the platter, still red faced and flustered. Lotor had no doubt her body had warmed, the reactions he had teased out of her, making the woman downright feverish with need. "And is this cook also a pirate on the side?"

"Every member of my crew is, to some extent. Some just excel better at other things." The table wasn't anywhere near the woman, and yet Lotor found himself walking closer to her. His nostrils flared, trying to scent her and the arousal she was feeling. That female musk was like a shot of aphrodisiac in his veins, Lotor gripping the platter harder rather than throw it aside and jump the woman.

"And what do YOU excel at?" She demanded, turning in place to watch him.

He laughed, eyes twinkling with amusement as Lotor cast a look over his shoulder at her. "You've already sampled just a taste of ONE of the things I am good at."

Interesting enough her face turned redder, an angry mottled shade that did nothing to lessen her beauty. "You think too highly of yourself and your skill!"

"Are you saying it wasn't any good?" Lotor asked, setting down the platter. The woman gave an affirmative nod, Lotor tsking at her. "Even with my glove's fingers still wet with your climax?"

Her eyes flashed, her anger keenly expressed in her gaze. "That means nothing."

"Oh nothing?" Lotor held off from uncovering the platter, his eyes riveted on her. "Then come closer and show me how little it truly means."

"You forget Captain." Her glare was pure ice, her voice holding steel to it. "We are not in love, we don't even like each other."

"I like you just fine." He interrupted.

"Pity for you then, for I do not feel the same way." She sniffed. "And without some real feeling to the act, it is ultimately meaningless."

"Do you honestly believe you need love to enjoy sex?" He asked, curious. "Can you not just fuck for pleasure's sake?" A sly smile then. "To let yourself go, to enjoy the moment, like you did on my lap?"

"What happened on the chair was a mistake." She told him, her tone and manner firm. "It will not be repeated."

"And why won't it?"

"You...it...your actions. They caught my off guard. Now that I know what to expect..."

"You'll what?" Lotor demanded. "Keep yourself from feeling, from responding to me?" He let out a cruel laugh at the determined yes she gave him. "Ah pet. How amusing a misconception you have about your body's passions."

"You know nothing of my body's passions!" She snapped, and her wondered what angered her more. That he had laughed at her, or that she knew he was right.

"I know enough." He told her. "And I'll find out more. I won't rest until I know your every weakness, every sweet spot on your body. Before our time is through, I'll know exactly how to touch, how to kiss to make you quiver and spread your legs with need."

"Oh? Do you plan to wait for the hells to freeze over?" She asked in a sickly sweet tone. "Because that is how long it will take before I give you the kind of response you're hoping for!"

"Then at least one of the hells is in for an early frost." He teased. "After all, it was not I who squirmed to the stroke of a Drule's fingers."

"I was trying to avoid your touch!" She protested.

"You did not try hard enough then." Lotor's voice turned coaxing. "Come now. There is no need to be ashamed or to lie to yourself. It was good, you enjoyed it, and might even be looking forward to what else I will do."

"The only thing I am looking forward to is for this whole ordeal to be over with!" She stalked forward, approaching the small table he had set the platter down on top of. But when she reached to uncover the platter, his own hand stopped her.

"If you are that eager, who am I to deny you?" Another one of his more predatory grins, Lotor all but looming over the woman. "Let us forgo the meal completely, and sate our other hungers on each other."

"I insist you feed me first." Magnificent woman that she was, the beauty refused to show how intimidated she felt by his nearness. "Or..." A sarcastic lilt to her voice. "Do you take pleasure in the act of using a woman whose hunger has forced her to collapse in a dead faint?"

"I prefer my partners to be energetic."

"Then I shall do nothing more than lay still beneath you in that bed." She retorted, then looked shocked at his reply.

"And what if I want you on top?" The hand not covering hers, reached to played with a stray curl that caressed the side of her face. "What if I want to watch, while you dance and writhe on my cock, your body bending over me so that your breasts dangle in reach of my mouth." He licked his lips then, Lotor watching the shudder go through her. But was it revulsion, or keen interest that caused that reaction? He didn't know, leaning into her, to whisper seductively in her ear.

"I've been wanting to taste your breasts for some time. To feel those sensitive tips on my tongue, to find out if they are pink like your most fetching blush, or darker like raspberries and just as sweet to eat."

"I am hungry." She said pointedly, looking down at their hands on top of the platter. "And I will be a bitter morsel if I am not fed soon."

"I doubt much of anything could turn you sour." Gods help him, but he really wasn't going to be able to wait. She was maddening, her reactions just making Lotor want her more. "There's not a rotten spot on your body..." His tongue flicked out, tasting her ear. She managed to hold still at that sudden touch, but her breath inhaled sharply, the only reaction she gave to him.

"Are you aware of just how many erogenous zones there are on a woman's body?"

"It's not information I've had need of." She said in that stiff, unyielding manner of hers.

"Which is a downright shame. Every woman should know about her body, about what will and will not please her." He traced the curve of her ear with tiny kisses. "But worry not pet. It will be my utmost pleasure to help you discover them."

"Isn't this night to be about you and YOUR pleasure, captain?"

"Believe me when I say it will be to my pleasure to awaken you fully to the pleasures of the flesh." He stroked her hair, and kissed down onto the side of her neck. "Of course, not every woman is the same. There is some spots that are practically universal in the pleasure they can provide when stimulated. But others?"

"Dinner." She said urgently, trying to move her hand but it lay trapped beneath his.

"The throat is a good spot." He lifted up her hair, exposing the back of her neck. "As is here." Again she shivered as Lotor brushed his lips across the nape of her neck. "And here..." He kissed the back of one sun kissed shoulder, letting her hair drop down once more.

"Many women enjoy having their hair stroked." He ran fingers through her hair, his tone becoming pure mischief as he spoke. "While others, yourself included, enjoy stroking of a different sort."

"I didn't..."

"Do not persist in maintaining that lie unless you want an immediate repeat performance of such an act." Lotor lightly threatened. Her mouth snapped close, lips pressed tightly together. His smile was sly, Lotor muffling his impulse to laugh. "Ah pet, you really do try to deny yourself, don't you?"

"I am not attempting to deny myself of any thing. I am simply famished, and if listening to your little lesson is what I must endure before I can eat, than so be it."

She was probably determined to natters on incessantly about her hunger, right up to the point pleasure took over and became her most immediate need. "That won't do." He murmured out loud. "I want you to be focused on me."

"I am focused." She retorted. "Just not to the extent you would prefer."

"Then I suppose I have little choice." He sighed as though dealt a great burden. "Very well pet. You may have your meal." He lifted his hand off of hers, though Lotor remained standing close to her. She hesitated just a second, glancing suspiciously at him before she uncovered the platter.

There was an assortment of foods crowded together, including every known aphrodisiac that had been available from the cook's kitchen. Innocent that she was, Lotor didn't think the woman had any real clue what some of her choices would do, the pirate hiding a smile as he watched her pile on her plate more food than she could possibly hope to eat in one sitting.

He stopped her when she attempted to take a fork, Lotor not about to allow her any thing which could prove dangerous. Gentle creature that she was, Lotor had no doubt her mind was inventive enough to think up a way to do real harm with that fork. And if she was not, he would in no way illuminate her on the stabbings she could do, or the gouging out of eyes that could be attempted with a fork.

Once her plate was more than adequately fully, she all but pushed him aside, to drop down into one of the table's three seats. Lotor immediately took the seat next to her, though he had no interest in the meal. He was more consumed with watching her, fascinated with the way she made eating with her hands an art form.

She tried to ignore him, to pretend she didn't notice how intently he studied her. But it was clear by the way she was nibbling, that she was aware. Aware and not liking it, her eyes flashing with annoyance.

"Must you do that?" She demanded at last.

"If it bothers you, then by all means. Put aside your meal, and come join me on the bed."

She popped a piece of fruit in her mouth, the reddish orange colored morsel named appropriately enough for the passion it was said to inspire. "You are not going to rush me in this."

"That was not my intention." He watched as she started in on the salad, pleased that she bit into large mouthfuls of argula and carrots, and leaves covered in ginger garlic dressing. His satisfaction showed, the suspicious look back in her eyes.

"What?" She glanced down at the salad, as though trying to figure out what could be wrong with it.

"I am just pleased you are not only enjoying your meal, but proving to be a healthy eater."

"You've done something to it, haven't you?" She said flatly, pushing aside the salad. He made with the wide eyed innocent routine. "It's drugged isn't it?"

"Only with nature's own aphrodisiac."

She was suddenly reexamining the food, a long, potent silence between them. He tried to be helpful, pointing out another stimulating delicacy. "Try the oysters perhaps?"

If he had been expecting the meal to be at an end, she soon proved him wrong. With a defiant look in her eye, she reached for the strawberries, making sure to dip a generous amount of chocolate onto it's red skin.

"I suppose everything here is designed to stimulant one's sexual appetite." She was far too calm, biting into the strawberry. Lotor almost moaned, watching the way her tongue flicked out to lick up the drop of chocolate on her bottom lip.

"Just about." He managed to say, though Lotor's voice sounded rough even to his own ears.

"Then there's no point in starving myself." She picked another fat berry, making sure to coat it well in the chocolate. She eyed him as she bit into it, the woman sighing. "Though I don't know why you bother. We both know what is going to happen, and it isn't like I've tried to deny you on that front."

"But you would deny yourself if you could, and ME." Lotor said, and leaned towards her. There was chocolate on her lip again, Lotor making a sound that stopped her from licking it up. His hand lifted, thumb brushing at the chocolate, before pushing it into her mouth. She looked surprised, not knowing what to do.

"Suck on it like a good girl." He said, his eyes growing heavy lidded when she got over her initial hesitation. There was the first, almost delicate sucks, her tongue actually flickering against his thumb to lick up that bit of chocolate. Lotor practically purred then, murmuring to her. "That's it...just like that..." Then she bit him, the woman not at all gentle, her teeth attempting to pierce his flesh.

Startled, the bite stinging, Lotor still managed not to jerk back though he withdrew his finger quick enough. He glanced down at his thumb, almost expecting to see blood, then laughed. "Rebellious sweet, you should know. Biting itself can be considered foreplay to a Drule."

"Don't stick strange things in my mouth unless you want me to bite them in half!" Was her defiant retort.

"I'd risk it again in a heartbeat, to experience seven minutes of heaven inside that sweet mouth of yours."

Sweet innocent that she was, the woman hadn't a clue to what he really meant. Lotor would enjoy educating her on that front, on that and all aspects of the kind of sex he enjoyed. And it was time for her next real lesson, Lotor rising from the table.

Thinking himself calm enough now to survive the experience of sex without succumbing to the woman's enchanting allure, Lotor took hold of her hand. There was a reluctance to her body, the woman rising slowly from her seat.

"Now, now pet. You needn't look as though you are going to the executioner's block."

That earned him a fierce look from her, the look infinitely better than the keen reluctance she had showed just seconds earlier.

"I think I would prefer the axe man's blade at this point."

"Contrary to popular belief, sex is not a fate worse than death." Lotor chided. Her look was one of haughty disbelief, her head raising stubbornly.

"I will be the judge of that."

"Then I will do my best not to disappoint." And Lotor would precede to do just that, taking the woman on the bed, on the floor, against the wall, even in his favorite chair. The couplings would last the remainder of the night, and continue even into the day, leaving the woman exhausted and Lotor well pleasured.

To Be Continued...

This chapter was quite a struggle as some of you well know! There was a few wrong turns, a dinner conversation that was wrong for this time, and the fact is I was hoping for a table sex scene. But it didn't pan out. Then I had to decide do I write some kind of sexual encounter on the bed in detail? But it was going against what I wanted to do...I want an Allura POV, so don't worry. This is not me coping out on sex. I just had specific things in mind...course maybe I will change how I feel about the ending half of this chapter, or maybe the future chapter won't want to cooperate with my vision in regards to the sex. Maybe it'll force me to change the end of THIS chapter. But I want to try to write the Allura POV how it is in my head at this point and time. Wish me luck...I'll probably need it. X_X

-Michelle

Lady Katherine 29, yes I can easily see him a sex addict. Always thinking about it, even though he gets so much I bet, from his harem! I can picture how exhausted Allura would be, if she had to meet the sexual demands he placed on like fifty women all by herself! X_X A lot of times I think she'd be glad if he kept the harem, cause it meant less time spent in bed with him! At least in the non con fics...but some people get so pissed at the idea of Lotor keeping a harem once he has Allura. I've gotten the argument that Allura in a non con fic would still not want him to have a harem, that she would gladly suffer his attentions if it meant the women in his harem didn't have to put up with Lotor raping them. But I'm of the opnion she'd welcome the break the harem girls would give her, if Lotor was sexing them on occassion! But I guess we all have different view points of this...XD

Ah yes, Lotor is drawn to her even in this fic. But he doesn't want to be that bewitched by any woman, cause he has things to do. But Allura sure is tempting, even though she doesn't want to be...as you've probably noticed when reading this fic...how much Lotor is enjoying just doing what he considers flirting! XD

Oh my God, I so want to spoil you some after some of what you said in the last review. Let's just say...um...how can I say this without spoiling completely. Well...the plan is for Allura to get away at some point. And while Corral doesn't have a hot brother that I know of, BUT I had been planning to have her widowed father give Lotor competition for Allura and Arus! XD Kinda like youth vs experience. Sure Lotor likes to consider himself an experienced ladies' man, but wonder how he'd fare against an older but still handsome and fit man who isn't a man slut but knows how to woo women. Course I could always make it Corrals' hot brother, but I sorta like the insults that would be flying between the "old" man and the young brat.

Still I love the idea of a drunk Lotor crashing Allura's wedding to another man, and spilling details of their night together. Ha ha ha! XD


	7. Chapter 7

It was early morning, according to the universal standard of time. But here in what was known as the dead of space, with nothing but the light of distant stars to break up the darkness that seemed to extend for miles in every direction, one would never know it. Here in deep space, with the nearest planet still several hundred thousand miles away from being visible, life seemed almost removed from the going ons of the galaxy and it's many individual worlds.

Certainly it made Ryder feel as though he and the other pirates were truly free, truly lawless. As though no one, not even the Doom Empire, could force on them any rules and restrictions. Of course that was merely an illusion, the pirates having to obey at least some sort of guidelines in order to be sanctioned by the Doom Empire. But there was ways around that, loopholes through the constraints, the pirates enjoying a freedom that would have evaded them if they had not been led by the crown prince of the Doom Empire.

That very leader was currently locked away in his private cabin, no doubt spending the last of his energy on a woman or two. It wasn't as though Lotor would be the only one busy, fucking, sleeping, drinking. Many of the pirates had been partying these past few hours, celebrating the successful raid they had enjoyed. There had been a lot of shouting, screams and moans, laughter and catcalls. The men continuing still to sate themselves on whatever vices they enjoyed, be they women, drink, or gambling.

But not Ryder. And not because he didn't want to! But he had taken leave of his good senses, fixating on one who wasn't just a woman, but a holy one at that. He cursed his misfortune, hated on himself for allowing jade colored eyes to beguile him into feeling more than just his groin's stirring.

He had to have gone insane, at least in part. To make off with a priestess, a woman that was devout, supposedly untouched by man or impure desires. A woman he shouldn't be near, his very touch corrupt. Every time he laid hands on her, he was soiling her with sinful touches. Marring that which was innocent, and probably damning himself in the process.

And yet he had been unable to resist, the attraction he felt for the woman going beyond the mere physical. Yes she was beautiful, but there was something between them, something she felt too if he judged her reactions right. She had yet to try to fight him, but then Ryder had yet to do much of anything. Cowardly hiding after locking her inside his own private cabin. Left to brood and wonder why he couldn't have had less scruples, or been one of the more slavering idiots who didn't give a single damn about the women touched by the Gods.

Ryder wasn't particularly religious, but even he knew the trouble one courted in forcing attentions on a holy woman. He wanted no part of damnation, and if he had been smarter, he would have left her to the care of one of the other pirates. But he had been unable to tolerate the thought of another touching her, of another kissing all over that voluptuous body, or to imagine them running their fingers through that long sweep of hair, making her cry out in pain or in pleasure.

It had actually made him see red, Ryder fighting a rage back on the yacht, when one of the other pirates had dared to grab at the woman. Why even when his own captain had inspected the woman, it had taken all of Ryder's strength to hold back from attacking him. It made little sense, the attraction holding a dangerous pull that was making him irrational where other men were concerned. It wasn't Ryder's way, and quite frankly he was sure he didn't want to change into some possessive Neanderthal where the woman, where ANY woman was concerned.

"I must be going out of my mind." He grumbled to himself. A few looks were cast his way before Ryder's glare made the Drules turn back to their assigned tasks. The command deck was relatively quiet, save for the beeps and dings of various equipment doing it's job. The morning crew had yet to arrive, and the midnight shift workers were tired, wanting nothing more than to return to their quarters and sleep.

Ryder needed sleep himself, and yet he was doing everything he could to delay. Lying to himself that someone needed to be in charge, someone needed to watch over the crew while the captain was otherwise detained. But Lotor's pirates were well trained, the command deck crew needing little in the way instruction. They worked like they were part of a well oiled machine, knowing the ins and outs of their jobs, and able to handle a variety of emergencies. They did not need Ryder or anyone else watching over their shoulders. And yet he stayed, Ryder telling himself it was better this way.

But better for who? Himself? Or the woman? And what would he do when the need for sleep pressed in? Bunk down in the barracks, rather than retire to his own comfortable cabin. And would he really spend the next three weeks hiding from the choice he had made? Even if it had been nonsensical, Ryder driven by impulses he didn't quite understand.

For that matter, what would he do with the woman once the outpost was reached? Lotor had yet to make a decision about the small group of priestesses they had captured in the raid, but one would eventually have to be settled on. But would Lotor actually be blasphemer enough to sell the holy women into slavery? And would Ryder actually want to part with his own, even if that was the more sensible of options?

"Idiot." He grumbled, not liking how deep a mess he had stepped into. At the time of the claiming, Ryder had not been thinking much of anything except keeping the woman away from the other pirates. He certainly hadn't considered any of the trouble that went with holding a priestess prisoner, the woman a spoil he should not partake of.

The problem was he WANTED to. Irrational though that may be, it wasn't just his dick that was hungering for her. He wanted more than just lusts fulfilled, a part of him wanted to explore the pull between them, the connection that had begun to form. But he knew that would be unwise, Ryder having no time and no desire to truly form an attachment to a woman. He certainly didn't have room in his life to bond to one, to want more than just sex from one. He was Lotor's right hand man, had a thousand responsibilities to his name. A relationship that went beyond the physical would only get in the way, and Ryder knew it. Hell, all the pirates knew it, Lotor included. The time for anything more with a woman, would come after Lotor sat victorious on the throne of the Drules.

Ryder couldn't force that time to come any faster. Just as he couldn't push the technicians to make the ship fly any faster. The journey to the outposts stretched out before him, a travel that would take three weeks minimum, provided Lotor didn't get the bright idea to stop along the way.

The three or more weeks spread before him, Ryder imagining the private hell he would have to endure. He almost groaned out loud, but was too conscious of the strange looks the midnight crew kept giving him. Just from his soft grumblings, and the fact he was here, rather than with the woman, gave the crew more than enough to speculate on. They'd all be wondering why the great seducer, wasn't living up to his name, why he wasn't right at this instant cradled between pale thighs.

Despite himself, he imagined it. Imagined the woman free of her gown, her pale skin his to admire, to touch, to kiss. Would she sigh softly and let out the sweetest of moans? Or would she try to resist, actually push him away, forcing Ryder to use all his acquired skill and knowledge to seduce from her a more favorable response? Was he crazy enough to even try to woo a holy woman to lay beneath him? Was it even possible to get a woman devoted to the service of the Gods to give up her chastity, or was it like Lotor had stated. An impossibility?

The odds certainly seemed stacked against him. She was too good, too untouchable to consider bedding one who would not, could not offer her any type of commitment beyond the fun of the next three weeks. Certainly Ryder didn't expect her to break any vows for a man, a pirate, who could be nothing more than a temporary lover. And as much as Ryder was lusting, he wasn't close to considering using outright force to get what he desired.

It left him with his hands tied, Ryder unable to puzzle out a solution to the problem he had brought upon himself. Without even realizing it, he was making faces, the frown furrowing even his brow. Anyone could see by looking at him, that Ryder was deep in concentration. Most would have chosen not to interrupt, but then most weren't Cossack the Terrible.

"Gods but you look like shit warmed over." Cossack's voice was loud, intrusive enough to jar Ryder out of his own thoughts.

"What the hell are you doing up so early?" Ryder demanded, nose wrinkling as he got a whiff of the rum that seemed too ooze off of Cossack's body as a potent aroma.

"What makes you think I've been to sleep yet?" grinned Cossack.

Ryder grumbled then. "So glad to know at least one of us is being responsible while the captain is otherwise busy."

"Hey, he didn't say anything about not partying." pointed out Cossack. "If he was worried, he would have said something."

"Maybe he trusts us enough to rely on us to do what he doesn't ask." countered Ryder. "Someone has to take charge around here when the captain is off duty. Especially when we're still in enemy territory."

"Ah but with that weapon onboard, they'd be stupid to attack us."

"They don't know we have that weapon, and the Doom Empire would like to keep it that way." Ryder reminded him. "At least not until we've completed testing of it."

"Don't think we have to do much more..." Cossack said thoughtfully. "You saw how it decimated that ship's defenses."

"I hardly think a lone yacht out on a pleasure cruise yields enough of the required data." Ryder's tone was dry. "We're going to have to test it again...find a better challenge." And that would surely delay their journey to the outpost, a sudden realization that made Ryder all the more glum.

"We can manage whatever challenge is out there." An overconfident Cossack boasted. "Sides, I'm thinking the captain is not that eager to hand over the weapon after seeing what it is capable of."

"You think he'll try to keep it from the King?" It made sense. Lotor's chance of taking the throne from King Zarkon, would diminish in likelihood if the weapon was turned against the pirates. If Ryder was Lotor, he would be doing everything in his power, making every excuse in the book, to keep from returning the weapon to King Zarkon.

"Oh you know it." Cossack grinned. "With the only completed, working prototype in OUR hands, the captain would be a fool to hand it over." He winked then. "Mark my words. The captain will keep making excuses. Zarkon will have no choice but to begin production of a second model, and that will take months if not years." He laughed then, taking joy in the aggravation this would cause the Drule King.

"He can only give the King the run around for so long..." Ryder pointed out. "In keeping this weapon, eventually...it will be considered an act of treason. And when that happens..."

"We go to war." Cossack's amusement had sobered up.

"We're far from ready."

"But with the weapon we don't need much more." Cossack said.

"We don't know if that weapon is reliable." Ryder protested. "It worked this time, but what about next? Or three times from now? It could fail at any time."

Cossack looked uncertain then. "I'm sure the captain has taken that into consideration."

"But has he considered we might be better off breaking the weapon." Ryder wondered. "It would keep it out of Zarkon's hands for just a little while longer."

"You'll have to ask him yourself about THAT." Cossack said. "But I'm willing to bet a fair share, that the captain won't like the idea of doing away with such a valuable tool."

"I'd be a fool to bet against you on that." sighed Ryder. But that exhalation was more exaggerated than the conversation deserved, Cossack looking at Ryder intently.

"What's with you? What's got you so down?"

"Nothing." grumbled Ryder.

"Don't tell me that. You've been making faces since I arrived, and I get the feeling you are worrying about more than just the weapon and what we'll do with it." Cossack scratched at his nose. "So come on. What gives? Why are you even here and not living it up like the rest of our crew?"

"I already told you..."

"And don't expect me to believe it's you being overly cautious and standing watch over things while the captain and his third is busy. We've got a good crew, they're more than capable of holding things together should an emergency happen before one of us can get to the command deck."

Ryder held in his sigh. "You ever do something so stupid..."

"All the time." grinned Cossack.

"No, I mean stupider than usual." Ryder said. "Stupid enough that you should regret it, and a part of you does, but another part of you doesn't see how you could have done it any other way?"

Cossack looked confused, and said as much. "Afraid you lost me on that."

"As big an idiot as you are, I'm beginning to think I'm an even greater one."

"Hey!" Cossack snapped in protest. "Friends we may be, but even I can take offense at such words. If you're not careful..."

"You'll what?" challenged Ryder, who then snorted. "We both know in a duel I'd wipe the floor with you."

"Maybe, maybe not. But I know one thing I am better at than anyone on board this ship."

"Somehow I am not impressed with the amount of liquor you are able to hold..." Cossack made a scoffing sound at Ryder's grumble.

"I can do a lot more than out drink anyone on board and you know it!" He said, puffing out his chest proudly. "The captain wouldn't have made me his third if there wasn't more to me than first looks suggest."

"I suppose you do have your moments." Ryder grudgingly conceded.

"More than you'll ever appreciate." Cossack shot back with a smirk. "And I know what people think. They think me dumb, that I get by on my friendships. Hell even women don't appreciate me at first...but they soon learn to look past my face and enjoy what I can do to them." He frowned when Ryder didn't respond to the last, Cossack stepping close enough to tap fingers on the dark haired Drule's head. "Something's wrong if the great seducer lets me get away with boasting about my appeal to women."

Ryder slapped Cossacks hand away, but his own look was more morose than scornful. "Somehow today, I don't feel it."

Cossack was clearly stunned by Ryder's admittance. "What? What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? You mean...?" Cossack shook his head, as though having difficulty processing the idea that had run through it. "Don't tell me you met the woman who could say no to you?"

Ryder just shrugged in response, hating the sympathetic look Cossack gave him.

"Shit man. Thought this day wouldn't come for a few more years."

Ryder gave Cossack a sharp look, his voice angry. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Hey now, don't get mad at me just because some woman is finally refusing your bed."

"She didn't refuse." Ryder said stiffly, earning a surprised look from Cossack. "She didn't get the chance to."

"Don't tell me you...?"

"I didn't." Ryder stood. "I didn't get to do anything at all." Agitation coiled his body tight, an unwanted tension to his walk.

"What? Nothing?" Cossack frowned. "That's so not like you."

"I know that!" snapped Ryder. "But that...woman has an effect on me like no other."

"An effect eh?" Cossack sounded doubtful of that. "And you know this after spending how much time with her?"

"You wouldn't understand..."

"Probably not." Agreed Cossack, looping an arm across Ryder's shoulders. The dark haired Drule wrinkled his nose, the stench of Cossack's preferred drink all the more potent now that the two were close. "But I do know a thing or two about pleasing women."

"The day I need to take advice from you about pleasing women..." Ryder began, tone cold as he attempted to jerk away from Cossack. The drunk Drule took it all in stride, grabbing onto Ryder's arm instead.

"Couldn't hurt." Cossack insisted. "I might have a few tricks that even you and Lotor have never heard of." He ignored the mocking sound Ryder let out. "And even if I don't, at the very least you can relax and toss back a few. What's the worst that can happen, aside from loosening you up a little?"

"What's the worst indeed..." Ryder muttered under his breath. But he allowed Cossack to drag him off, even allowed him to lead him to the captain's private reserve stock of drink. By the time the pair was on their second bottle, Ryder was past protesting, too busy drinking in an attempt to forget. But the memory of jade colored eyes wasn't as easy to vanquish, the priestess and the memory of how she had felt in his arms continuing to haunt Ryder.

To Be Continued...

I feel bad this is a short chapter. It gave me...some moderate difficulties. I still wonder if I should trash it and start over, or cut the Ryder Alexandria interludes completely. Thing is if it happens, the interludes need to happen before we get to the morning after Allura POV. ^^;;

This chapter didn't go much like I wanted. I thought Cossack would come and relieve Ryder of his self appointed duty. But it became clear I couldn't get Ryder to go to his cabin in this chapter, and then the idea to have them drink came up. Repercussions of his drinking will be seen next chapter...*knocks on wood*

Now I'm off to try and at least get eight started. ^^;;

-Michelle

Lady Katherine 29, thank you. :) Ah but is the all night into the morning, and on every surface he pleases sex really out of the norm for Lotor? Though he probably does such things with a group of women not put it all on one poor gal! XD Guess Allura should have tried to be predicatable rather than resigned but spirited. ^^;;

Glad to hear I am not the only one who thinks that way about the harem girls in a non con Lotor forces himself on Allura story. That she'd welcome the break from the unwanted attentions of Lotor that the harem girls would end up giving her! Especially with the sex addict, sex drive Lotor usually has!

Forget about Merla laughing herself sick, I'm the one doing that after reading your entertaining exchange between Haggar and Zarkon bickering about drunk Lotor! XD Thanks for that! Always appreaciate a good giggle. :)

There's so much stuff I am looking forward to in this story. Unfortunately...okay the whole time I was working on the cabin scenes with Lotor and Allura, I had all these ideas, lines for a Ryder POV...and then when I get to the time to write out his POV...I suddenly get like stuck, like writer's block. I've been getting very frustrated trying to write chapter eight, which has Ryder and Alexandria in the same room. Like head banging against wall frustrated. X_X I hate when I have scenes I want to get to, but first have to struggle with earlier parts of the story that is stalling on me the writing process. =/ Makes me crabby...


	8. Chapter 8

It was several hours into morning, the time long past the ungodly hour in which the midnight crew gave up their shifts to a more fresh faced bunch. Not that anyone awake was feeling particularly fresh or energetic, not after all the partying they had enjoyed the previous day and night. Drink, women, gambling, the men had thoroughly given in to their vices, many staying up hours past their normal bedtimes. They suffered for it now, not enjoying the luxuries afforded to those highest in command, the pirates forced to rise regardless of how little sleep they had, in order to attend to their duties.

Everywhere Ryder looked, there was men shuffling about, their expressions ones of pure misery as they dealt with headaches and the other unpleasantness of being hung over. Hardly anyone talked, saved for a few unfriendly grunts here and there. Men shied away from the bright lights of the ship's corridors, and there was even one hunched over in a corner, dry heaving.

It was a sorry lot, these men hardly resembling the pirates that had raided the pleasure yacht. So pitiable was the sight of them, Ryder held no doubts the pirates would be in trouble should the ships come under attack. It was fortunate for them, that the reserve crews had held back, waiting for their chance to go wild once the hung over bunch properly recovered.

It still made Ryder uneasy. They were still in known enemy territory, still predominantly reliant on a weapon that was nothing more than a prototype that needed more testing. Ryder would have wondered more about just what the captain was doing, if not for the amount of drink currently warming his body.

He walked with a swagger, every step exaggerated though he kept from stumbling. Ryder was not so drunk as to be unsteady on his feet, but a few more glasses full and that would change. As it was, he had drunk enough to smell like the expensive candy flavored brandy Lotor kept in his private stock, and he certainly had had enough of it to have had some very bad ideas. Of course, in the moment Ryder didn't think of them as bad. If anything, he thought them damn good ones, ideas well worth entertaining. And he was drunk enough to think trying these ideas out would prove a worthy endeavor.

With these ideas fueling him forward, the liquid courage of the drinks pumping through his veins, Ryder all but ran the last few corridors to his own private cabin. The cabin was situated in the heart of the ship, and was one of three. As Lotor's second in command, it was Ryder's privileged right to have his own rooms, and he damn well enjoyed it. The rooms gave him something that was often hard to find on a ship filled with several hundred people, privacy almost as valuable as gold when one spent as much time in space as the Drule pirates did.

The cabins gave him something Ryder wouldn't trade away for anything, and certainly not for the cramped confines of the crew's barracks. And though he sometimes liked putting on a show with his sexual prowess, Ryder couldn't imagine having to seduce a woman as fine as the priestess in front of an audience. A whore perhaps, yes, but never the priestess. Because Ryder already knew she was different enough to merit special treatment.

Even drunk he thought that. Even after he had spent several hours with Cossack, the two drinking until the Drule with his dirty white hair, had finally passed out. Some might say it unfortunate that Cossack had last as long as he had, for the Drule had had time to bolster Ryder with bad ideas and far too much encouragement. By the time Cossack was through, and snoring on the floor in front of Lotor's private reserve of drink, Ryder had almost forgotten that he had been hiding from the priestess.

Now Ryder couldn't imagine why he had ever thought that was a good idea, annoyed with himself for acting the coward where she was concerned. Now Ryder was determined, eager to explore the attraction he had felt for the woman from the first sight of her, eager to experience all the delights that could be had between them, and almost desperate to prove it was only lust fueling the infatuation that had started on the yacht.

That something he refused to think of as more than infatuation, troubled him. To be so affected by a woman, a woman he hadn't even held real conversation with? A woman he hadn't even bothered to exchange names with? It was preposterous to think he could have any real feelings for her beyond his bodily desires. And yet Ryder couldn't deny he had been hit hard with the wanting of her. A wanting that had made him do stupid things, ignore what she was, what trouble could come from attempting to seduce a holy woman.

Now he wasn't worrying about what she was, and what he was, how impossible, impractical it was for a sinner and a saint to be together in anyway. Instead he was determined, the lusts he felt and had expressed to Cossack, that much closer to becoming reality. His body thrummed with excitement, Ryder impatient as he finally reached his cabin's door. He was so eager for her, so ready to disregard everything and actually claim her in the most basic of ways, that Ryder had trouble entering in the pass code that would unlock his cabin's door.

He swore loudly under his breath, and punched in the numbers a third time. The door opened with a swish, Ryder's fingers feeling out the room's light switch from memory. The light came on too bright, Ryder ready to swear again. And then he saw her, the priestess looking as beautiful as he remembered, the woman having jolted upright out of a chair.

They stared at each other, Ryder's gold gaze staring into the frightened green jade of the priestess. Her eyes lacked the earlier fascination she had worn when looking at him, but after a night of listening to the pirates party and prey on reluctant females who screamed out their displeasure it came as no surprise. Any sane thinking woman would have lost her nerve, and been transformed into a wary creature. Any woman listening to the sounds of others being raped, would surely have come to have expectations about her own eventual fate in that regard. Ryder could understand the woman was probably terrified, and yet all he could focus on was the lush perfection of her mouth, how tempting her lips looked, and how it should be a sin for a holy woman to be that beautiful.

It was absurd that a woman like this was devout and devoted to the worship of the universe's many Gods. Her very body was a temptation, with long legs, a slender waist, and curves that were sinful in how generous she had been gifted in the chest and ass area. Any sane thinking man would take one look at her and have impure thoughts, and the more bold would seek to do more than just think them. She was a woman created for a man's desires, and Ryder couldn't bear the thought of being apart from her a moment longer.

Barely aware of the door sliding closed behind him, he moved. His eyes never strayed from her, his hands catching her around the waist. Ryder pulled her as close as possible without being inside her, her breasts pushing against his chest, and nearly tearing an appreciative moan from him. The jade of her eyes looked even more frightened, her rosy lips parting to say something. He'd never find out what, Ryder already plunging his tongue into her mouth. Kissing her hungrily, greedily, tongue plundering in a mad, rapid attempt to learn the taste, the feel, the texture of her.

Ryder heard her make a sound, but was it more protest or that of surrender? He didn't care, holding her close, kissing her fast, wet, deep. His mouth was almost bruising on hers, demanding and unyielding, eating up the sounds she made. It didn't matter that she didn't know how to kiss him back, that she responded like an untried virgin, or the fact that Ryder normally preferred women with plenty of sexual experience. Right now he wanted the virgin, wanted to taint her purity, corrupt her, make her a fallen woman who was as much a slave to desire as Ryder was.

And he was a slave, to desire if not her, though the woman already held a certain dangerous power over him. Haunting his thoughts, and worse yet enflaming his body, Ryder growing erect just from kissing her. He almost pulled back then, ready to laugh in wild disbelief. She made him feel like a boy, young enough to have never so much as touched a woman. How long had it been since just kissing a woman could cause such a reaction in his loins? Normally it took them both being naked, the woman already under him for Ryder to reach such an advance state of desire.

Instead this sinful priestess, had him reacting like it was his first time, Ryder already rubbing his erection against her in a desperate grind. He wondered if she even knew what it was he was grinding between them, wondered if she had any knowledge at all of a man's anatomy, and what went on between lovers in the dark. He certainly didn't expect her to know much of anything about the experience of being bedded by a Drule male, and while normally the thought would have put him off, with her it left him actually looking forward to teaching her.

And then her stillness was gone, the woman beginning to struggle before Ryder could properly seduce her mouth into kissing him back. She made fitful sounds of distress, her trembling hands pushing at his shoulders, the priestess trying to wiggle free of Ryder's embrace. When he kept on kissing, her struggles became more pronounced, the woman seeming to panic.

Stifling a curse, Ryder broke the kiss, though he didn't for one second consider letting go of her. She didn't calm, still trying to get away, and that damnable wriggling was sending pleasant shock waves through his cock. She didn't try to scream, though her panicked eyes flashed emotion at him, the woman speaking in a firm tone that didn't fit with her fright.

"Let me go."

Again he was trying not to curse, Ryder gripping her just a little harder. Her clear fear was almost the splash of water he needed to sober up, the Drule realizing the priestess would have to be handled very carefully, lest she make a refusal he'd be honor bound to behave. But, with the way he was reacting, was there any honor left in him? Would he really do anything to have her, even forget that to rape wasn't his style? And yet could he think enough to remember how to be the great seducer, how to tempt and tease even a priestess into laying with him?

"Please." She said, in a breathy appeal that would do nothing to save her. Not when that breathless, husky quality spoke more of seduction, a plea for more, than a demand to be left alone. "Just let me..."

"Woman be silent and let me kiss you." Was it an order, or a plea of his own? Or was it both? But her eyes widened, some of her fright slipping away in one defiant flash. She lifted her chin, stubborn and ready to argue. She would actually twist to the side to avoid his mouth on hers, though the woman could not succeed in pulling away completely.

"Woman!" This time he growled at her, Ryder less than pleased by her rebuff. She looked at him, though the woman was careful to avoid his lips.

"I have a name." She told him, in that same breathless tone.

"I bet you just do." He murmured, though the words were meant for no one. Her chin lifted higher, her frightened eyes still holding a rebellious edge to them. Ryder sighed then, as though he was tired and accepting that he wasn't going to get another chance to kiss her. "All right sweeting, just what is your name?"

A moment's hesitation, and then she answered him. "Alexandria."

It wasn't unfamiliar to him, Ryder vaguely recalling the captain's newest woman having screamed out a name at one point. It might have been Alexandria's, though at the time he had been too awestruck by the priestess, to fully register what the blonde woman had screamed.

"Alexandria." A rakish smile, Ryder striking fast like a cobra. One hand on her hip, the other clutching at the back of her head, holding her by her raven black hair so that she couldn't avoid his mouth this time. Tasting her sweetness, and her unease, Ryder managing a drawn out moan that made him sound like a man starving.

She had gone still again, frozen against him. Her mouth betrayed her fright, lips tight and unyielding. It was maddening, Ryder wanting her response, to feel her soften as Alexandria gave in to his lip's seduction.

"Kiss me back." He let out a frustrated growl, staring into her eyes. At some point Ryder had begun to breath heavily, his own voice a low rasp. Could his pretty priestess tell how much he wanted her?

"I don't even know your name." Was her protest.

"Would it even matter?"

She maintained her shock. "Of course it would!"

"Then the name's Ryder." He said, and kissed her again. There was the slightest responding quiver against him, and then she began trying to push him away. He clung to her, mouth pressing insistently on hers. It was clear his intent was to keep on kissing her until she gave him the surrender he was after.

Alexandria seemed to sigh and wilt in his embrace, though Ryder wasn't fooled into relaxing his hold. And then wonders of wonders, her lips softened, beginning to do more than just quiver as they moved against his. It was hesitant where his was bold, the priestess lacking the confidence that Ryder possessed. But he didn't care, charmed by the innocent way she gave in to his lip's demands.

But it wasn't enough, Ryder issuing another command. "Open your mouth for me." Another defiant flash of the jade, the priestess shaking her head no. "Woman!"

"I told you I have a name!" She sounded almost cross then, trying to shove him over. Ryder was tempted to fall, to drag her down to the floor with him.

"Alexandria..." He purred, far to tempted at the thought of taking her on the floor of his cabin. His eyes must have betrayed him, the priestess finding some warning in his predatory gaze. She resumed her struggles, pushing, shoving, trying to jerk free even if it meant tearing out that luxurious mane of black hair. Ryder couldn't bear the thought of a single strand being lost, and thus relaxed his grip just as Alexandria began stamping her feet on his.

Her slippers couldn't do real damage, not to the strong, sturdy leather of his boots. Ryder actually let out a hearty laugh, that ended on a strangled wheeze when the priestess' knee connected with his groin.

"Alexandria!"

The sharp saying of her name, didn't stop the woman from fleeing to the other side of the room. "Stay back!" She ordered, grabbing at the first thing within reach. "I mean it!"

"You're being ridiculous." He got his arms up in time, something smashing apart against them.

"I won't let you do this!" She continued, grabbing at something else. It looked like a mug, liquid sloshing over it's sides. "I won't let you..." The mug sailed towards him, but her aim was off, Ryder watching as the mug shattered a few inches short of him.

"I'm not going to do anything you don't want." He was counting to ten in his head, Ryder annoyed and fearing she'd push him over the edge into a dangerous anger.

To his astonishment, she turned red, sputtering things that he couldn't make sense of. It was an interesting reaction, but Ryder couldn't truly puzzle over it. Not when Alexandria was casting about, ready to lunge for the next handily thrown object.

"Calm yourself." He moved, lunging towards her. He almost got hit in the face with a platter, Ryder snatching the silver tray from Alexandria's hands. Her pale skin had gone as white as a sheet, the woman staring at him as he backed her up into a wall.

Frightened but defiant, she hissed at him. "This will be rape..." She flinched, trembling from head to toe as he slammed his hands into the wall, trapping her between them. "I am a woman devoted to the Gods...you will...you will..."

"Do nothing that you don't ask for." Ryder interrupted loudly.

"Ask? Like the women from the yacht asked your crew?"

Ryder shrugged. "That's unfortunate business..."

"But all too common for a pirate?" She asked.

"Common enough." He agreed. "But some of us, myself included, have little taste for rape."

Alexandria blinked slowly, trying to process this. "Then why?" She whispered. "Why..." She seemed to change her mind, shaking her head no. 'I cannot, will not give you what you want. Will you now give me over to one of your crew who would take by force what they desire?"

Everything inside him roared in protest. Share this woman with the others? With even one man? When he wanted to kill, to rip out the eyes of those who had leered at her? When he had wanted to jump on his own captain, just for the crime of touching her with impudent hands?

"Never." Ryder said out loud. She was not meant for the likes of Lotor's pirates. Damnation, she wasn't meant for the likes of Ryder either. And yet he couldn't stop what he felt, what he wanted from her.

"Never?" She echoed, surprised and it was more than apparent she was relieved. "Then what will you do with me?" She stiffened at his longing look, the priestess shaking her head firmly. "I cannot be tempted."

Ryder rose to the challenge of her words, leaning into her. But it wasn't her lips he caressed, his mouth brushing over the pointed tip of her right ear. She shivered in reaction, sensitive there in a way only Drules or those with some bit of Drule in their blood could be.

He was truly damned then, destined to go to one of the universe's many hells. For he had decided to throw caution to the wind, and set about to do what she claimed could not be done.

"Well Alexandria..." He breathed into her ear, doing warm licks and tiny nibbles over that ridge. "We shall see about that, won't we?!"

She was still shivering, her face flushed but not red with anger, but the slightest pink. "What do you mean to do?" Alexandria asked, looking interested despite her claims.

"For now nothing but sleep." He stepped away from her, trying to tell himself her sigh was one of disappointment and not relief. "But we have at least three weeks to go before our journey together is at an end."

"And then what?" Anxious was her tone, Alexandria staying plastered against the wall.

"Let's not worry about the journey's end just yet." Ryder chuckled. He turned away from her, practically humming under his breath. She called out his name, and he ignored her, making a beeline for his bed. But inside he was scheming, plotting out what was to be his greatest, most time consuming seduction ever. Alexandria would be more than just tempted, she would succumb, learning pleasure and sin at his hands. Ryder couldn't wait for that moment, grinning to himself as he kicked off his boots, then climbed into bed.

To Be Continued...

*pant gasp wheeze* Okay this was quite an ordeal to get right. I originally wrote 12 Kb the other night, and while...okay I didn't like my starting paragraphs, thought they sucked, but everything that came after I liked. But I got stuck, plus I realized even drunk Ryder was having a thought pattern that was too soon for this time in the fic. (The love at first sight angle which I felt was wrong for this time.) So I ended up trashing that 12 KB with the hopes I can use some of it later on in a future chapter maybe.

I also had to deal with some family stuff, so that kept me from writing this any sooner...but once mom was gone, I had the peace and quiet to concentrate on this rewrite. And I really like how the second draft of eight came out. For the most part. I'm sure there's a thing here and there that makes me wince. But I feel much better with this one than I did seven! WHoo hoo!

Now nine is supposed to be back to Lotor and Allura as we get an Allura POV. :)

-Michelle

Lady Katherine 29, aw thanks! *hugs* I'm feeling better cause eight came out so much better to me. So I won't have to trash seven...it came close though...I was begginning to regret the decision to have Ryder go get drunk with Cossack. Luckily the rewrite/draft 2 all came together for me, and came together in a way I REALLY like. :D So yay! Hopefully I won't be the only one pleased with the completed version of eight! XD


	9. Chapter 9

There was a moment when Allura had lingered between half remembered dreams and the disorientation of waking up in a stranger's bedroom. More confused than anything, the panic hadn't immediately set in, Allura assuming she was still dreaming. Then the discomfort had set in, the lingering pains of a virgin's body well used, the sting of rug burn on her flesh, and the weight of another's body on top of hers. Feeling the pirate's warm breath on her ear, the sound of his soft snore, and his fingers closed around one of her wrists, was almost enough to make Allura scream.

Slowly, counting to ten in her mind, Allura tried to take stock of her situation. Of what had happened, and of what was now, Allura aware of the soreness between her legs, her thighs bruised and wet, the now cold and sticky remains of the pirate's climax having leaked out of her and onto the bed sheets.

She had to breathe slowly, had to close her hand to dig her nails into it's palm in order to keep from letting out a wild scream. Allura was upset, wanting to deny what had happened, what she had consented to albeit reluctantly. She had to will herself not to cry, to not scream and lash out. It was a struggle to remain in control, to pretend she still was the woman that had dined with a pirate. To pretend she was still unaffected by him, by all that had happened, all that had been done to her. Most of all, she had to will herself not to cry, had to remind herself to keep on being strong, that she had dealt with worse at her father's court than one mangy Drule pirate.

What did it matter that the pirate had wanted and taken her body? Compared to those who fought over Arus, to the cruel despots and invaders who would ensure millions suffered, who had already caused wars to break out, who would fight and kill, and leave the people of her planet impoverished, the pirate's evil just did not compare. This was something Allura knew, and though she tried to accept it, it was still too real, hit too close to home. For Allura had lost something she had valued, her choice being taken from her, many of her firsts being given to the pirate.

Her first true kiss, her first caress, the many firsts of sex. It shouldn't matter as much as it did, not when she had a whole world to get back to and provide for. A world she would do just about anything for, a world she felt responsible for, a world she had undertaken this mission for. Sex with a pirate was just another sacrifice, one of the many things Allura was willing to do to safeguard Arus. It was why she hadn't fought him, hadn't said no, hadn't even told him her name. Allura was simply doing what she had to in order to survive long enough to get back to Arus. To get back to her ailing father, her friends, her subjects. Allura had to believe a chance would offer itself to her, a way opening in the future for her to escape. The pirates and their captain was just one more obstacle in a string of them, Allura determined to succeed. She'd worry later about the fact that the only proof of the agreement with Jacquol had been destroyed.

Just as Allura had to believe that she would escape from the pirates, she also had to believe Jacqoul would honor the agreement she had struck with it's King. She couldn't bear otherwise, couldn't handle the idea that all of this had been for nothing, that the agreement had been as flimsy as the paper it had been written on.

She had to believe, had to hold hope close to her heart in a situation that seemed bleak at best. She couldn't give up, and Allura certainly couldn't give into tears. She had to be strong, brave, and as unaffected by what had happened as she could manage. But it was difficult, with the reality right in her face, the pirate Lotor pinning her to the bed, her body sore in a way it had never been before, his seed in her and on the sheets.

Worse yet was the fact that he was still INSIDE her, the pirate having collapsed at the same time she had, both of them so exhausted after nearly half a dozen couplings. The fact that there had been so many quite honestly astounded Allura. Never had she imagined such an act could be done by one man multiple times in one night. She had thought once, maybe twice, and then he'd have allowed her to rest. Instead Lotor had tried Allura to her limits AND his, the pirate almost frantic and working her hard.

She wouldn't cry, but that didn't mean Allura could stop the blush or the memories that caused it. Remembering his mouth kissing all over, the pirate Lotor paying special attention to her breasts. Doing things with his fingers, his lips, his body. Forcing her to feel, to experience strange sensations that were not entirely unpleasant. Allura didn't know if her reactions were normal, if all women felt the same, or if the pirate was truly as skilled as he had claimed. Even the act of piercing her hymen, hadn't hurt as much as she had feared, though there had been enough pain to keep her from climaxing during that first claiming. But not for the times after, Allura's body learning the feel, enjoying the odd sensations of Lotor's cock thrusting inside her. By the third time they had coupled, she had been clawing at his back, screaming in wild abandonment, wanton and fierce.

That was perhaps the most humiliating. That Allura could have been brought to enjoy anything he had done, let alone become as wild and frantic as the pirate had been. Her hands now touched the back of the man who slept on top of her, Allura feeling the lines of split flesh where her nails had scratched and torn at Lotor's skin. She had been vicious at that point, demanding, practically snarling at him to go harder. It was embarrassing, mortifying, and Allura regretted it immensely.

It wasn't her, or at least Allura tried to insist it wasn't. She was all to quick to blame it on the drinks she had had, and the aphrodisiac the meal had been stuffed with. Anything to refuse the idea that she was that wild a woman where sex was involved. It was harder to do than she liked, dried blood under her nails, the pirate Lotor's hair tangled and wild from all the times Allura had pulled on it, and run her fingers through it.

Again warmth heated her face, the blush blooming redder on her skin. Feeling suffocated by both his nearness and the memories, Allura began to attempt to wiggle out from under him. Her hands tried to lift him up, Allura trying to figure out how to get him out of her body. Her actions seemed to only settle him more firmly on her, his body cradled between her spread thighs, Allura's face aflame with mortification.

He was still asleep, still snoring. But that part inside her? It came alive, growing harder inside her as Allura struggled to get away. The feel of him swelling, of him growing to full length while inside her, was so odd and alien a sensation. She gasped, hearing him snort, and then felt him begin to move. Allura was well in a state of frozen disbelief, staring up at the cabin's ceiling by the time the pirate awakened fully. A touch on her cheek got her to look at him, the pirate Lotor smiling. It was a smile that had devastating effects, Allura blinking rapidly to keep the tears from forming even as her inside clenched and turned to liquid heat as he continued his movements. His sleepy, almost frantic thrusts took on a more leisurely pace, the pirate Lotor in control of himself now. Murmuring and cooing to her in a mix of the universal's standard language and his own, the pirate looked far too pleased at this morning's wake up.

Fighting back the urge to grit her teeth, Allura wanting nothing more than to slap the grin off his face. Even with his distracting movements, she hated, angry at him, and angry with herself for reacting to the sex. To the pleasure that built between her legs, to the tightening that responded to the rub and friction they caused together. To the fact his hands now covered her breasts, Lotor having lifted enough that Allura could glance down and see the point where they were joined.

She refused to look there, unable to maintain her glare as the sensations swept through her. Her body began trembling, Allura gasping repeatedly. Lotor's smug, satisfied expression was all she could focus on, and even that was enough to stop her body from reacting. Her hands clenched over his back, nails digging into those still fresh groves. Her breath hissed through clenched teeth, Allura fighting the words that wanted to come out in response to this slow, downright languid pace.

And when she did give in, the words "faster damn you" issued out of in a growl, Allura saw the arrogant smirk he flashed her way. The knowing look in the pirate's eyes betraying his slow pace had not been born of early morning laziness, but had been maintained in deliberate tease. The pirate wanted her wild, wanted her to beg, wanted her to know how easily he could drive her to that point. It infuriated Allura, her nails scratching harder in an attempt to somehow hurt him worse than he could her. But even as she bled him, she felt it wasn't enough. Nothing would ever be enough, so long as he could so easily enslave her by his body's movements.

By the time they both came, Allura was arching her back and fully voicing the scream that had been building inside her, Lotor had his face buried against her shoulder. He actually bit down hard on her skin there, muffling his own cry as his seed flooded inside her. Allura had a moment of real panic, not at all ready to believe the pirate's claim that he and all the other Drules were on some form of injected protection when it came against making babies.

Feeling his tongue licking over the painful bite mark on her shoulder, Allura began pulling on his hair. He wasn't quick to move, comfortable settled on top of her, and between her legs. She really wanted to kick him, or to beat her fists against him, Allura wondering if he planned to keep her in bed underneath him for the next few days.

"Get off of me." She said, with a particularly vicious jerk on his hair. "I wish to bathe."

He didn't move, Lotor enduring the abuse to his hair. "There's no need to rush pet." He told her, still licking at the bite mark, while reaching for her wrists. "Let's just enjoy the moment."

"There's nothing to enjoy." She managed to jerk one wrist free of his grip, but the other? The other stayed trapped, Lotor lifting her hand to lave his tongue over the palm of it. "I am filthy and wish to be clean."

She quickly made a fist before the pirate could take one of her fingers into his mouth. He was too eager, too quick to entice her with every weapon that his body possessed. His tongue might be the ultimate in his arsenal, Allura trying not to shudder as she remembered how it had felt to be licked all over by that rough velvet muscle.

Kisses brushed across her knuckles instead, the pirate staring at her as he did it. Allura didn't hold back her annoyance, trying to shake him off as she grumbled. "Enough. We'll be here all day if I let you have your way any further."

"Would that really be so bad?" He wondered.

"Of course it would!" She snapped, trying to push free. He still refused to move, Lotor studying her face carefully. "I'm sure you have things to do, ships to raid, women to debauch, lives to destroy."

"All in due time." Was his answer. "But right now I'd rather lay here with you."

"If only that was all you'd be content to do."

"Come now pet. You can't pretend it was all bad." Lotor grinned at her, too smug with himself.

"Nor will I pretend it was all good!" She snapped, temper rising further at his unabashed laugh. "You're a brute and a bully, working a virgin the way you did!"

"There was little complaints at the time." The pirate countered. "And you seemed to enjoy it."

"Seemed to isn't the same as actually!" She sniffed haughty and shoving at him. "Now get off of me before I get really mad."

"Oh pet. We wouldn't want that to happen." He was mocking her, Allura dearly tempted to slap that twisted smile off his face. "But go. Clean yourself if it'll make you feel better. It's not as though washing me off your skin will change the fact that I've been inside you many, many times."

His words almost broke her down to tears, Allura letting out an enraged hiss a moment before her hand slapped across his cheek as hard as she could manage. "You are even more despicable than I first thought. To mock me in so cruel a manner."

The pirate Lotor looked shocked by the slap, but this time moved in response to her shove. Allura inched sideways to the edge of the bed, trying to ignore the pains of her hips, and the soreness between her legs. She refused to crumple, refused to cry out and acknowledge she shouldn't be standing so soon. But most of all she refused to require his assistance to the bathroom, Allura limping bravely to the shower. She'd collapse against the bathroom door, shaking uncontrollably, her breath coming out in harsh pants. And still she refused to cry, to let the pirate win in this matter.

There was a ledge inside the shower's stall. Allura sat down on it gratefully, letting the water pelt down on her from above. Her hair and skin grew damp quick enough, Allura working to get out the remains of the pirate's climax out of her. She examined her bruised thighs, and began scrubbing at her skin with the pirate's pine scented soap. But no matter how hard she tried to get clean, the pirate Lotor was right about one thing. It did nothing to change the fact that she been ravished, that her body had thoroughly been used by him, had even enjoyed some of those couplings.

Allura was beyond angry. feeing an immense sense of loss. Knowing her first experience with sex, should have been one that was loving, a kind caring partner introducing her to this new kind of intimacy. Her partner should have been a man who had loved her, who wouldn't have teased her so cruelly, wouldn't have seen her as nothing more than an outlet for his sexual needs. It should have been desire not necessity that had motivated Allura to say yes to a lover, the sex should have, could have been so much more than what it had ended up being. Fucking. She hated that word, it offended her every sensibility. But in this moment it was appropriate. The pirate had fucked her, and she him, and nothing about it had been special.

But she wouldn't, couldn't cry. Not now, not when the pirate could hear. Not even when he couldn't, Allura refusing to give him that victory for as long as she was his prisoner. She would endure, calling on all her training as a princess and a diplomat, wearing a mask that hid her true sorrow from Lotor and all the others onboard this ship. She would be poised, as regal as she dared, not only enduring but waiting for her chance. The moment she would be able to escape. Allura refused to think that moment would never come, that she might actually end up a slave, or that her true identity would be uncovered. Allura would be brave, bold, determined. She would not let Lotor or any of the pirates he led be her or Arus' ultimate undoing. And with that decided, strength filled her, Allura drawing on it and standing tall. Ready to face the pirate Lotor and whatever other fiendish plans he had for her.

To Be continued...

Don't have much to say for once. Next chapter should be a Lotor POV.

Michelle


	10. Chapter 10

He honestly hadn't been expecting her to strike him, for his pretty little pet to give in and act on the anger that was never far from her eyes. It was such an unexpected, shocking move against him, that Lotor actually moved at her shove, realizing that perhaps he had gone a little too far, been a little too cruel with his taunts. But never had he expected her, for any woman, to haul up and slap him with all her might AFTER he had thoroughly fucked her for hours on end.

Just thinking about the sex was enough to make him smile, Lotor laying back against the bed's pillows. But his cheek was sore, throbbing enough that he felt it would bruise beyond the red imprint of the woman's hand. Holding back a rueful chuckle, he touched fingers to that throbbing cheek.

"I probably deserved that." Lotor murmured to himself. But he was hardly ready to apologize, or even consider it. Not when he had lived the entirety of his adult life, taking what he wanted, when he so desired. Even if that what was a who, as she most assuredly was in this case. And he did want. Hell, Lotor had wanted her from the moment he had first laid his eyes on her, the woman a blue eyed, blonde beauty that was exactly his type where looks were concerned. That her passionate nature, and bold personality suited as well, well that was just a pleasant bonus as far as Lotor was concerned.

She was a woman like few other, Lotor having known a handful of females, all Drule, who would stand up to him. But never a human, never until now. And never a human who knew she was powerless, a woman who would either end up a slave, or be valuable enough to ransom off. But this pretty little blonde, she was an enigma. Holding strong, keeping her head. And though she couldn't always hide the rage in her expressive eyes, she had managed to keep from tears. Never hysterical, able to hold her own against his more verbal flirtations, this woman hadn't even cried when he had torn through her hymen.

It was quite the refreshing change, not to mention amusing. She was bold, spirited, and Lotor knew he shouldn't allow such behavior any longer. Especially if she were to be sold into slavery, her spirit expected to be crushed long before most men would even consider buying her. And yet Lotor found her attitude such a delight, that he was loathe to stop her. Besides there was always the chance that she was someone of value, someone whose family or planet would pay handsomely to get back.

Lotor was certain that was the case, despite what the woman had been wearing when the pleasure yacht had been raided. He'd no sooner believe she was someone's servant, than he would believe pigs could fly. Her manner was simply too bold, too strong willed, the woman not hesitating to speak her mind. She had none of the meek and submissive mannerisms of a true servant, was too beautiful a girl to have been left toiling in someone's kitchen. Lotor might have been willing to believe she was trained to be someone's mistress, but before last night she had been untouched. He supposed there was always the chance she had been on her way to meet with some noble patron, but Lotor doubted anyone would have waited to lay hands on her before that.

He was betting she was someone's daughter. Some fat aristocrat or rich noble, someone of importance. Someone able to pay the pirates' high ransom, and most likely someone desperate enough to want her back. Lotor was troubled by the thought of the woman traveling on so defenseless a ship as the pleasure yacht had proven to be, but even that was bound to have an interesting story. Perhaps she had been traveling in secret to meet with a lover, some man she wanted to elope with that her family didn't approve of. That would suit Lotor just fine, the pirate thinking of the bidding frenzy the ransom could take if two opposing parties both wanted to gain control of the woman.

In the moment, Lotor had gold on the mind. The amount he would get in exchange for the woman. The huge payoff he was expecting, regardless of the fate Lotor ushered her into, was enough to make him forget the pain of his slapped cheek. He actually grinned, relaxing in bed, thinking how enjoyable the next three or so weeks would be. He'd have the woman in his bed, and she'd continue to entertain him beyond the act of fucking.

Sated for the moment, Lotor was able to think back on the past night without his cock reacting. Remembering the woman's surrender, her ultimate fall headfirst into feeling the effects of lust. The passionate responses she had proved capable of, Lotor's back the canvas in which her nails had torn and decorated with his blood. Such a wild spitfire, the kind of a woman who could only be truly satisfied by a Drule.

He was still in bed, grinning to himself about the excellent find he had made in choosing the woman, when the bathroom door opened. He lazily looked her over, seeing she had found his bathrobe, and put it on. The bathrobe drawfed her body, even with the sleeves rolled up, and the hem of it nearly touched the floor. Her blonde hair was still damp and smoothed back, and what little skin he could see had tiny drops of water slicking across it. He made a mental note to spend some time later, licking her dry after one of her showers, then smirked as he wondered how she would react to licking HIM.

Almost tempted to find out, Lotor sat up. Some predatory intent must have been revealed in his eyes, for he was suddenly the recipient of yet another fierce glare. He just grinned wider, not bothering to try for an innocence he had long since abandoned years ago.

"Well pet, do you feel better now that you've showered?"

"Hardly, you brute." She scoffed in response. "I may have washed off the worst of your filth, but I still ache, sore in places I never imagined could hurt."

"That part is just not used to such a rigorous workout." An unrepentant Lotor said. Nor was he bothered by the insult she had implied in calling his seed filth, or the fact that her expression had turned even angrier.

"You don't have a shred of compassion do you?" She demanded. "You could at least be sorry!"

"For what we did together?" Lotor asked, shaking his head no. "Never." Another sly smile, Lotor letting the memory of the past night fill his eyes, the hedonistic pleasures they had shared, and how even now the recollection affected him. The woman practically sneered in response, Lotor barely holding back his laugh. "There was few complaints from you at the time, pet."

She colored. "A mistake on my part then, but I am voicing them now!" He gestured at her to go on, noting the deliberate way she kept from looking at his naked body. "Last night cannot be repeated."

Lotor didn't have to say a word, his face showing what he thought of her words. She had to realize how absurd it was to expect him to keep his hands off her, the woman sighing exasperated. "I am...WAS..." she quickly corrected, a grim set to her lips. "A virgin. And while I understand you are vastly more experienced than I, it still doesn't excuse you for...bedding me so many times in so short a period."

"Ah but pet, you excite me so."

"Curb that excitement then." She snapped crossly. "Otherwise I fear I will be unable to walk in the coming days..."

He let concern fill his eyes. "You hurt that badly?"

"You are..." A hesitation. "Rather large. Not to mention the time it took for the actual sex to come to it's completion." His grin threatened to split his face in half, the woman scowling as she hastily made an additional comment. "I say this not to stroke your ego! If anything I wish you'd be quicker about it..."

"Trust me you do not."

"I believe I know what I want. If I must endure you on top of me, then I wish it to be as brief and painless as possible."

"Endure?" He arched an eyebrow. "You make it sound as though fucking me is some chore, as boring as it is tedious."

"You're in denial if you think it's anything BUT a chore." She countered. "Believe me captain. I did not seek out your bed. It is you who forced your...attentions on me. It is you who persisted in repeating such an act numerous times. I dare say it is you who will insist on it in the future."

"I see I've done you a great wrong, if you are not relishing the thought of returning to my bed." Lotor tsked, shifting forward to do a slow, panther like crawl towards the edge of the bed that was closest to the woman. It was a seductive movement, one that had made more than one woman quiver in anticipatory excitement. But this woman merely crossed her arms over her shoulders, frowning at him.

"You've done me many wrongs, it's true." She retorted, watching him. He came to the edge of the bed, and extended a hand to her. She did not take it, didn't even look at it, her eyes locked onto his. Lotor wondered how much of a concentrated effort it took for her to ignore his naked body, for her to not look anywhere but at his face.

"Then allow me to make amends for this one thing." Lotor said, his hand still held out in invite for her to take it.

"I don't see how getting into that bed will do anything to make this right between us."

He couldn't stop the smirk, chuckling softly. "Ah pet, still so sweetly innocent. But as much as we did last night, I haven't begun to finish educating you on your body." He tried this time to take hold of her, the woman quickly shuffling out of reach.

"You've taught me enough." Stiff toned was her voice, her expression angry, her skin flushing pink.

"Not nearly enough it seems." Lotor muttered to himself. She was already turning her back to him, casting her eyes about the room. It was clear she wanted the conversation over with, the woman walking over to the dressing shade.

"Do not put on that dreadful disguise you were wearing when I captured your ship." Lotor said, slowly rising from the bed.

"It is not a disguise." She retorted, without looking at him. "And it's all I've got since someone saw fit to tear off the black gown you had lent me."

"You mentioned numerous times that it was too tight." Lotor countered. "And I could not wait a second longer to see you out of it."

"Someone needs to school you on patience."

"Perhaps that will be you." He said, walking over to her. She froze when his hands touched her arms, the blue and gray maid's uniform limp in her hands. She didn't exactly fight him when he took it from her, but neither did the woman hand it over eagerly.

"Ah pet..." He nuzzled his lips over the curve of her ear, breathing in deeply of her scent. "You smell divine...a mix of us both."

"What am I to wear?" Was her stiff retort.

He was starting to get hard, just from pressing against her, and inhaling her scent. As though she hadn't just wrung out a string of climaxes from him in the span of a few hours.

"Captain?"

Lotor shook his head, trying to clear the lustful haze he seemed to be diving into. "Help yourself to anything in my closet." Was his own stiff answer, Lotor abruptly stalking away from her. The haze didn't clear, his body excited, but not to the point it was unbearable. A cold shower would quickly take effect, Lotor all but hurrying into the bathroom.

The water he pelted himself was downright freezing, Lotor shivering under the liquid's assault. Cold though it was, it accomplished two things. One it took care of his burgeoning erection, and two it cleared his mind to the point he could focus on something other than wanting to fuck senseless the intriguing beauty in his bedroom.

It was troubling, the way he reacted to her. The way just being near to her got him lusting, his mind focused on thoughts of what he wanted to do to her, and have be done by her. She really was like no other, and though Lotor had had a strong instant attraction to other females in the past, none of them had held his interest long after the first bedding.

Eyes closed, Lotor shook his head while the shower sprayed on. He had been right to think her dangerous, to know he could become completely besotted with this woman. Even the fact that he had bedded her so many times in one night? It amazed him, Lotor more used to pulling such a feat off with the help of several different partners. Never had his interest stayed on one woman for so long, never had he wanted it too. And yet his pretty pet was doing just that, making him not only lust, but look forward to the things she would say, even the things she might do.

He was enjoying himself just a little too much, while in that woman's company. Lotor knew he should really send her away, let some one else among his crew have her. And yet some possessive part of him raged at the thought, as though Lotor already had formed an attachment to her. It was exactly why he shouldn't go and fuck her for the eight time. He shouldn't, couldn't feed into an addiction that was struggling to form. And though he couldn't give her up to another of his pirates, Lotor would do his best to get rid of the woman in another way.

He would do it reluctantly, Lotor not even looking forward to the gold her ransom would surely bring him. But do it he must, Lotor finishing his shower, and securing a towel around his waist. He'd exit the bathroom with the intent to learn just who exactly that woman was, determined to at last have her name. Only to stop short at the sight of her, the woman wearing one of the least provocative of the dresses he kept in his closet.

She had turned towards him when the bathroom door had opened, Lotor's eyes drawn to the way the dress molded to her body, clinging almost lovingly over her curves. This dress was shorter than last night's gown, flashing her legs from mid thigh on down. And though it had sleeves, it's neckline was practically indecent, plunging downwards to prove that even the least provocative of his wardrobe was still downright scandalous.

Sadly he didn't get to ogle her for long, the woman pulling on one of his shirts. He mourned the loss of the sight of her cleavage, the woman quickly buttoning up the shirt. She gave him a defiant look, chin up as she spoke.

"You said to help yourself to anything in your closet."

"So I did." Lotor murmured, fighting not to prowl closer to her. "I'll be much more careful with my words in the future."

"I'm hardly sorry to admit your sense of fashion does not suit mine." She said, moving away from the closet. She drifted over to his dresser, studying the things on top of it. There was a few baubles there, including the ring he had removed sometime during the night. The woman seemed instantly drawn to that ring, picking it up carefully with her fingers.

"Odd piece for a pirate." She said at last, eyes studying the gold band, with it's blood red ruby, and obsidian carvings. She cast a look over her shoulder at him, her eyes judging. "Did you steal it off some prince?"

For one second he was startled, and then privately amused at how close she was to the truth. The woman had no idea whose ring she held, had no idea of the significance of the obsidian carvings, or the fact the ring was a symbol of the crown prince of planet Doom and it's Empire.

"Do you really want to know?" He asked, watching as she turned away, the woman trying on the ring. It really was too big for her fingers, the ring ready to slip off at the slightest of movements.

"I'll make a deal with you pet." He pressed against her, trying to ignore how her body felt, how good she smelled. "You tell me your name, and I'll tell you about the prince that ring belongs to."

"Surely you don't think me THAT curious, do you?"

"I guess not." He caught her hand, and gently eased the ring off her finger. He immediately put it on his own, Lotor glancing down at the symbol, the proof of his noble lineage.

"Do you always wear such...flashy jewelry?" She asked him. He wondered if she spoke, merely to distract him, to keep him from acting on the sexual tension that built between them every time he approached her.

"Not often, save for this ring." But he wouldn't go into details, wouldn't explain to her that the ring not only identified who he was, but was a symbol everyone on the ship would respect. Even those in the black market would recognize and understand the significance of the ring. Whoever wore this ring, be they the actual prince, or just some emissary on his business, would be allowed to travel unmolested through the seedier parts of the galaxy.

"So tell me, my sweet pet." He touched her hair now, finding enough time had passed for it to have dried and curled. "What will it take to get your name from you?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" He arched a brow at that. "Everyone has a price pet, even you."

"You have nothing I could want, and can do no worse to me than you did last night."

"You'll hurt a man's ego with your continued attempts to belittle the sex we had." Lotor told her, fighting the urge to rub up against her.

"It meant nothing."

"It was fun, pleasurable."

"That is not enough for me." The woman told him, tone as cold as her eyes when she turned to look at him. "The only thing I valued you took from me. And even the return of it would not be enough to get me to tell you my name."

"Virginity is so prized by females, and so overrated."

Her eyes narrowed, Lotor thinking she was going to strike him again. "I'm talking about CHOICE, you ignorant pig!"

"Choice? I wasn't aware of that being an issue."

Her pretty little mouth fell open in shock. "You...Do you think I wanted to sleep with you? That I wanted to allow you to do the things you did?! That I wouldn't have..."

"You always had a choice." Lotor interrupted her, wanting to kiss and lick at that tempting mouth of hers. Especially when it kept falling open like that. "You could have refused, could have fought me. But no, you did neither. You never even said no one time."

"That..." She was practically sputtering, so shocked. And then a change came over her, a certain steeliness that ate away her shock, and steadied her expression. "I knew I had no choice in the matter, and acted to accept the path that would cause ME the least amount of hurt." She leveled a fierce gaze at him. "You know as well as I do, it was going to happen regardless of my wishes."

"True enough." Lotor agreed. "But the fact is you accepted it the instant you decided not to say no, not to fight me, not to resist me in the slightest. You all but consented to it, and nothing you say, nothing you do to try and justify it, can change the fact that you gave in."

He should have known the slap was coming, the woman hauling back and striking faster than his own reactions. The slap struck him on the same cheek, almost exactly on the bruising spot. Lotor could only be grateful she hadn't been wearing his ring when she had slapped him.

"Get out."

Lotor blinked slowly. "Excuse me? Are you actually trying to throw me out of my own cabin?"

"GET OUT!" She snarled louder this time. "If you have any decency at all, you'll leave." He didn't move fast enough for her liking, the woman suddenly squeezing past him to run for the door. Lotor lunged after her, his towel almost falling off the second before he caught her up in his embrace.

"If you won't leave, then I will!" She snapped!

"You'll be walking into a lair of wolves if you do." He retorted. "Do you honestly think there is anywhere you can go on my ship, that will keep you safe from the lusts of my men? Do you understand what you risk, that it will be a hundred times worse with groups of them alternating their use of you?!"

That stubborn set of her lips, turned uncertain, her mouth beginning to tremble. Lotor could see she understood exactly what the danger was, and the dawning sadness that her best hope really was to stay with him. She didn't like that truth, but she accepted it, sagging in his embrace, stopping her attempts to fight.

For once Lotor felt a shred of decency, picking her up and carrying her over to the bed. But he didn't get in with her, just laying her down. She didn't start crying, wouldn't even look at him, rolling onto her side. He stared down at her a moment, before walking away, intent on getting dressed. That tiny kernel of sympathy for the woman's situation? It unsettled him, Lotor deciding he had to get away before full out pity blossomed in him. It wasn't a feeling he liked, nor one often experienced. And Lotor wasn't about to rethink his own behavior where women were concerned, or the fact that his pirates were just as bad if not worse. Most if not all would have spent the night cavorting with the captured women. Most would be expected to play a part in breaking the captives' spirits. Lotor refused to regret this, to feel bad about doing the things needed to groom these people into the perfect slaves that he could then sell and profit off of.

The profit was what he had to keep thinking of. The profit was that mattered. Not soulful blue eyes that screamed of hurt and pain, and yet were brave enough to keep from crying. The profit would be what Lotor tried to keep focus on, but the look in the woman's eyes would linger, haunting him long after he left the cabin.

To Be Continued!

So...this was a fun chapter to write, and interesting too. I wasn't sure how, when to start it exactly. I had three possible points, but I'm glad I eventually started with Lotor's reaction to the slap. Then Allura comes out of the bathroom, and the talking seemed to be derailing my plans to them having sex again so soon! *face palm.*

But I'm glad they didn't. I'm also glad I finally got to put the thing about his ring in there. Had been trying for a while. Whole reason I had him wearing gloves was to have the ring be covered. I was gonna have her notice the ring, cause he took the gloves off for the meal, but then the way the chapter shaped up, I couldn't really work in a ring comment.

Also thought it interesting how the ending shaped up. I wasn't at first, sure how to end the chapter. I know what I want Lotor to do in terms of attempting to learn her name. So I figured it would be more along that line, than how it ended up becoming. But I am very pleased with this chapter for the most part! Yay me! XD

-Michelle

Lady Katherine 29, as always you have my thanks for taking the time to enjoy and review this! *hugs* Yes, Allura has a lot to deal with. I am trying to keep her from breaking down and crying until she gets away and back to Arus but who knows how the writing will happen. But I'm pretty determined she doesn't break down until she feels free of the pirates, and feels she finally has the freedom/luxury to give in and have a good cry.

Oh my goodness, i love that, the bonding with sex. He so totally does! Probably the only or one of the only ways he knows how to bond with a woman! XD I think he'll get a few more smacks before the three or so weeks are up!

Ah Demos...part of what plot bunnied me for my very first Voltron fic all those years ago (RUles of Engagement which sometimes I think about rewriting...as it's kinda bad as is most of my early 2000 writings...*blush*) was how they had stateds something about Demos being this big evil empire. I wondered why they didn't fight harder when Lotor rejected marrying Corral...and thus that fic was born. So yes, should be fun to see Lotor seething over his romantic rival...I'm still thinking of what kind of first name the King will have. I don't remember what if anything I named him in that other fic, but I don't think I want to make it his name...all my fics from 2008 and up, the characters keep the same name between fics even if not the same universe. Like Nanny's real name is Gertrude, or Allura's mom is Diana. So whatever I name the King of Demos, that would be his official name in MY fic universe. XD

Ah Ryder Alexanadira...aw man...you should have seen how much worse he was obsessing in the first draft attempt of that chapter. It felt way too much like love, and I was like they haven't even had a chance to talk and I am not gonna do a love at first sight thing. So I kept it in the next draft to be more a he's really hit hard by lust for this one woman. He's gonna have his work cut out for him. And me for that matter. X_X But it's a fun kind of work...usually...XD


	11. Chapter 11

She concentrated on her breathing, Allura taking measures to inhale and exhale at precisely the same length of time. Those slow, steady breaths helped to calm her, to keep back the unwanted sob that had been building inside her. By the time the pirate had dressed and left the room, Allura had her emotions under control, balling them up into a knot inside her. Tucking that tangled mess of negativity and grief away for a time when she would be free to let herself give in to the tears.

She didn't care that holding back was making her sick inside, as though the emotions stored were poisoning her. Allura told herself she had no need of tears, no time to be sad and in mourning for the things she could not change. The past was what it was, Allura knowing she had to look to the future if she was to have any real hope.

Hope was in sparse supply, Allura wondering how, or even if she would get away. It seemed practically impossible, Allura not only having to escape the pirates and their oversexed captain, but somehow get a ship and travel back to planet Arus. The fact that at the moment she had no money, no identification papers, and the fact that she couldn't reveal who she truly was to get those things, made escape seem even more impossible. Only her determined will kept her from giving up completely, Allura refusing to end up a slave, or reveal to the pirates who exactly she really was.

A ransom wasn't in her future. Not with these particular pirates. Thieving, low lifes that they were, the pirates were also Drule. And as Drules, they would have some fleeting loyalty to the Empire that sanctioned them, to the world they had been born and raised on. There was no way they would give Allura up to Arus, not when they could use her as the ultimate hostage for Doom to conquer the world, and claim it's assets.

That was one thing Allura would never willingly allow. She'd rather die, or become the slave the pirates would make of her, then willingly jeopardize Arus and it's people's futures. She'd keep her name and royal lineage a secret, no matter what that damnable pirate captain thought he already knew.

Her hands fisted on the pillow, Allura allowing only one of her negative feelings to blossom. Anger, the feeling sharp and powerful. The one thing she could feel, the one thing that helped her to keep her wit sharp, preventing her from collapsing completely into a sobbing damsel in distress. She'd use anger and all her training as a King's daughter, to face her present situation, and the Gods willing, overcome the obstacles set out before her.

She'd do what she had to, what she always had to, playing the woman, the princess who had been born and groomed to one day lead planet Arus' people. There was no heroes in her story, no one to play rescuer to a distressed princess. Allura had to save herself, and the people of Arus. She'd worry later what it meant that she had had to destroy the only proof of the agreement she had struck with Jacquol's King, that perhaps her entire mission had proven for naught. That she had endangered not only herself, but her attendants, that she had risked so much and so far had nothing to show for it. Doom and Demos still fought over Arus, it's assets still waiting to be plundered. While far too many enemies waited out there, not just the two Empires, but any number of worlds that would love to get their hands on something or someone who could be used to secure a controlling interest of planet Arus.

It was almost headache inducing, the odds that had been against her, even before Allura had left on her mission. And though Allura sometimes wondered if she had been a fool for undertaking such a gamble, the princess also knew she had had no other choice. Arus wasn't going to be able to get help through the normal channels, not with Doom and Demos hovering menacingly over the planet. Time had been running out, and only the fact that the two Empires refused to unite against Arus, had kept Allura's world free for as long as it had been.

Allura wondered what was going on with Arus now, though she was sure nothing much had changed in the time since the pirates had taken her and the others prisoner. The last reports she had read before turning in for the night, had stated as much, the two powerful empires locked in a stalemate as they battled against one another to gain control of Arus.

Nor had there been any news about the state of things on the actual planet, no one caring all that much about the people, or their rulers. That played in Allura's favor, the rest of the galaxy seemingly oblivious to the fact that the princess of Arus was in fact being played by an imposter. They had no idea of the fake, and had no reason to suspect the real princess Allura had left the planet some time ago.

It was one way travel to Jacquol had been made easier, the imposter's presence on Arus allowing Allura more freedom than she would have otherwise had. If anyone had suspected Allura had stepped off the planet, a search would have been immediately on, bounties being issued, as everyone fought and hurried to be the first to capture the princess of Arus.

None of that had happened. None of it would, so long as the imposter continued to play her part well. So long as the imposter was in place, it bought Allura just a little more time to make her return to Arus. Regardless of what happened with planet Jacquol, Allura wanted to go home. It didn't matter if she brought them the aide they needed, or nothing at all. She just wanted to be back among her loved ones, to see her father once more.

Allura couldn't relax even to think of her father. Not when he had been so very ill the last time she had seen him. Her father, once the picture of perfect health, had had sallow colored skin, and bags under his clouded colored eyes. He had lost weight, his hair gray streaked and thinning. But though he had been prone to coughing fits, her father, King Alfor had still had the strength to hold court, to make decisions and rule over Arus. A beloved King, the people rallied behind him, their love and support empowering him better than the many medicines his doctor had had him try.

Weak and sickly though her father had been, Allura knew he had still been strong enough to fight the two Empires who would wrest control of the planet from the Arusians. That could change at any moment, the fear all too real that Alfor's condition could worsen at any second. Allura was SCARED, worrying that if her father knew her exact whereabouts, that she was in the hands of pirates, and Drules ones at that, it would send him that much closer to the grave. He had already been close to collapsing just at the idea of Allura undertaking her secret mission, but King Alfor had also understood why it had been necessary for her to do that. He hadn't liked it, would have taken her place if not for the sickness that was aging him, might even be killing him. He had had to reluctantly cede to the younger, stronger candidate, his only daughter, knowing if Allura did not do this, there was the very real chance there soon would be no kingdom left for her to inherit.

Allura could only be grateful for the fact her mission had required the utmost in secrecy. Once gone from Arus, once the mishaps had happened, her father and her people had no idea where Allura was exactly. They wouldn't even know of the delays, the things that had messed up the estimated time table. They certainly wouldn't know she had had to take passage on an entirely different ship, or that that ship had been waylaid by pirates. Most reassuring of all was that her father wouldn't yet suspect she was in trouble, that she might never be coming back. She had time, little though it was. Allura could only hope she could get back to Arus before her father suffered another setback health wise, the princess fearing her father's own concerns and worries would be the final straw that saw him bedridden or dead.

She sat up then, and clasped her hands together. Speaking a prayer for her father, for her planet, even for herself. She prayed for guidance, for wisdom, for the things needed to help her escape. For the ruthlessness she might need to exercise, in order to get away from these pirates. Because she knew of three young ladies, her attendants who had accompanied Allura on her mission.

Allura couldn't help flinching as she thought of the three, and of the fates they had most likely endured. All three fair of face and figure, Allura was positive they would have been used to slate some pirate's lust. Allura hadn't recognized their voices in the screams she had heard before the cabin door locked away all outside sound, and for that she was glad for it. Bad enough to KNOW those three were being raped, let alone to hear proof of it? It made Allura shudder, her whole body reacting in distaste.

She feared for them all, but her fear might have been the highest for Jacquelyn. A fighter true and true, the flame haired girl was one to let her fists fly, and her mouth was prone to voice insults. Allura felt sick just imagining how badly Jacquelyn might have been hurt, the princess thinking Jacquelyn didn't always do the smart thing when her anger was roused.

Patressia and Marie had much calmer personalities, Patressia downright timid and fearful. Rape wasn't easy for any woman, but Allura feared for Patressia's state of mind, given her shy, easily frightened nature.

She was worried sick for them all, for all the women, including the priestess she had met and bonded with. Allura wouldn't put it past these pirates to perform unspeakable acts of terror against even holy women, and she dearly hope everyone had protected themselves by not fighting to the point the pirates would beat them, and break bones.

As sickening a thought, and as real a fear as Allura had, she also knew what she had to do. How she wouldn't be able to take anyone with her, how if a chance to escape came about, she would have to forget everyone, not just the women, but even the surviving men that had been captured, and leave by herself. Allura knew she couldn't waste time trying to locate and free anyone else, she logically understood it, but emotionally it made her sick to be that ruthless.

It came down to choices, to sacrificing the good of a few, for the well being of an entire world. HER world. Allura would have it be a choice she would never have to make, and yet part of her training to one day take over as Queen of Arus, had been exactly on that. On making the tough, unpopular decisions. On making the choices that would save the most amount of people, keep the most amount from suffering even at the expense of another group's well being.

It was choices like this that made Allura wish she hadn't been born into royalty. It would be the first real tough decision she had to make, the first time she would have to be so ruthless. She could only pray for the forgiveness of the people here, especially the forgiveness of her three attendants.

It might have been easier if she could somehow see them. To look them in the eyes, and voice the very real sorries she had, Allura regretting that they had been dragged into this mess with her. She promised herself, that if, ONCE, she got back to Arus, she would expend all effort to locate the women. To find and free them from the life of slavery the pirates were intent on forcing them into.

But though she made that promise, Allura was all too aware of the limitations of her own planet and power. With Arus under siege, poised to endure several invasions, even with planet Jacquol's help, would Allura really have the luxury and resources to find the women? Would it come down to another ruthless decision, the women a loss Arus deemed regretful but acceptable? It was not a decision she wanted to make, not a life she wanted to live, if Allura had to sacrifice innocents.

But if she kept on thinking along those lines, Allura would allow herself to be frozen in inaction. To avoid being ruthless, to avoid sacrificing others, she'd just sit here and let things continue to happen and spiral out of her control. And that was simply unacceptable, Allura refusing to make the choice to do nothing.

She had already done that once, allowing the pirate Lotor to have his way with her. The anger tightened her gut, Allura acknowledging that in some ways Lotor's words were true. She had submitted, had all but consented to the sex. In acting to prevent herself from being brutalized, from enduring a rape that could have turned even more violent, she had willingly let the pirate touch her. She had saved herself from the chance of being beaten, from being bloodied and bruised, but it had cost her. Allura would have felt better if she could have said no, if she could have fought, rather than just lie there and put up with it.

But did she dare fight him for real? Did she dare risk doing something that would in turn make the pirate viciously attack her? Did she dare fight him for however long it took until she could make her escape? Or did she have to once again do whatever it took, including the distasteful act of submitting, if only to keep herself healthy and fit for the time when her chance did come?

Such unappealing choices, no matter which route she took. Allura could only be glad she had some time before the pirate returned. Time before he decided he needed to bed her again. She'd use that time, to not only work out what her decision would be in regards to the sex, but to start scheming. She'd actually get up out of bed, refusing to wallow in thoughts and hurt feelings. Allura would actually set about to exploring the captain's cabin, wondering if there was anything that could be of use to her.

Certainly the open chests of treasure caught her attention. Allura had noticed them the night before, but had been too wound up with distress and anxiety to properly think on the money's use. If she could fashion a pouch, or get clothing with pockets, she could steal some of the coins and use them to purchase a ride home. Even if she didn't get those things, there was jewels. On necklaces, on rings, on brooches and bracelets, even diamond studded hair barrettes. She could smuggle some of that wealth on her person, pawn those valuables for even half their estimated worth.

The pirate probably wouldn't even noticed a few baubles missing considering the amount of wealth he had piled through out his room. Nodding to herself, Allura continued her explorations, finding the remote that would lower the view screen monitor from the cabin's ceiling. It was unfortunate for her that to actually work the monitor, one needed the pirate's password. But then, calling for help wasn't really a route that would have helped Allura's situation. She could have gotten the pirates discovered in Jacquol territory, maybe even raided, the captives freed, the pirates arrested. But what would she have done when it came time to reveal who she was to the authorities? Especially if the ones who answered her distress signal wasn't emissaries of the King?

Putting down the remote, but hardly defeated, Allura continued searching. She even looked into Lotor's closet, noting with distaste the female clothing inside it. All impractical, overly sexed up outfits, there was no way Allura would be able to sneak around while wearing one of those garments. She'd have more luck dressing in the pirate's clothes, and while the shirts were easily worn, the pants would need some modification to keep from slipping off her slender frame.

Allura was still poking around, when a knock sounded on the cabin's door. It was so unexpected it startled her, Allura hurrying out of the closet. By the time she reached the door, it had been unlocked and opened, the young Drule from the other night walking in, another meal platter in his hand.

"What's this?" Allura asked, keeping a wary eye on the young pirate. He made sure to kick the door closed behind him, as though fearing she'd run outside the room if he didn't.

"The captain thought you'd be hungry." He was already uncovering the platter, Allura's anger boiling to see another assortment of known aphrodisiacs crowded onto the plates.

"Your captain thought wrong." Allura said, tone and manner dismissive. "Take it away, I don't want it."

"Can't do that."

"And why not?!" Allura demanded, hands on her hips.

"The captain wants to make sure his woman is well fed and rested for tonight's pleasures." The young Drule was hardly flustered, speaking as though what he said was perfectly normal and acceptable.

"I just be he does..." Allura's eyes narrowed, giving the young Drule a glare almost as fierce as the ones she had given his captain. "I am NOT your captain's woman."

He didn't even bat an eye. "If the captain says you are, then that's what you are. At least until we reach the outpost."

"The outpost?" Allura asked, trying not to seethe in response to the pirate's other words. "Where's that?"

"If the captain wants you to know, he'll tell you." He was already turning away from Allura, intent on leaving the room.

"Wait!" Allura called out. "There's no knife, no fork..."

"Captain said to make sure you don't have any of those."

"At least get me a spoon! What could I possibly do with THAT?!" A shifty look from the pirate, Allura making an exasperated sound. "Your captain is needlessly paranoid."

"He's cautious." Allowed the young Drule. "We can't have the merchandise damaging themselves or others."

"Mer...merchandise?!" Allura sputtered, then growled. "We're people not possessions!" She didn't know what was the bigger insult. To be thought of as mere merchandise, or to be called the captain's woman.

"The captain would say otherwise." The young man was hardly sympathetic.

"Your captain's word is not law!"

"On this ship it IS." With that very firm retort, the young Drule walked out of the room. Allura hurried after him, but the door was already locking. It didn't matter, she hadn't thought herself capable of running out to face the other pirates. Not with the very real threat of what they would do to her, to any woman found wandering around the ship's corridors.

Even knowing that, it was hard to just sit there and do what the captain wanted. Allura actually banged a fist against the door, then completely ignored the meal, instead heading into the closet. The various, inadvertent insults still burned, Allura angry about so many things, and needing an outlet lest she end up screaming mad.

"Captain..." scoffed Allura, grabbing the first jacket she saw. "He thinks he's so high and mighty, the wanna be Lord of the Universe. Playing with others' lives, ruining them, selling them, CONTROLLING them. Well he doesn't control ME!" It was a twisted sort of smile on her face as Allura began tearing out the buttons and lacings on the jacket. Her perfectly manicured nails began picking at the thread seams, Allura intent on destroying the jacket. It wasn't the only thing she would go after, Allura proceeding to mess with quite a number of shirts, pants, even a pair of boots before she came to her senses. She laughed when she saw the damage she had done, part of her scared, but another part hoping the pirate would not only be bothered by the ruin of his clothes, but play into her hands and give her the things needed for one stage of the new plan already formulating in her mind.

To Be Continued...

This was a sorta difficult chapter to write. Mainly I was worried cause it's almost all just Allura thinking about things. I needed to do a Allura POV NOW, before I did another Lotor POV. But I was worried with her just thinking, it would be extremely short. More like an interlude. I was amazed it ended up such a nice size.

The other part that worried me is her thoughts about the sex/rape. It's been a very blurry line, a dubious consent situation since she never told him no, or resisted, fought in anyway. But she didn't want to do it. So I was attempting to explain why she let him get away with it without her resisting. The fear of even more violence committed to her. But in the act of writing those paragraphs, I felt like it was gonna turn the fic from dub con, to full out non con, cause no way would Lotor share a cabin with her for the next few weeks and not take sex from her. So right now she's still deciding. Does she say no and fight and risk worse violence, or does she play nice and submit to endure his attention until she can get away? There's something I'm planning for the Lotor POV, that will definitely lean her towards one decision more than the other.

Overall i like this chapter, and still feel amazed it ended up a nice size even with very little interaction of characters, save for Allura and Smythe who delivered another meal. I also had wanted to have her think something about thank God Nanny didn't come on this trip, cause she would have gotten hurt cause of her big mouth and overly protective of Allura nature. Hopefully a future chapter, I could maybe work in that kind of thought.

-Michelle

Lady Katherine 29, thank you! Ah man...I just barely finished this chapter before some drama erupted. Makes me mad, cause I had hoped to at least start 12 tonight too...instead I could barely get enough quiet to proofread 11. X_X But it's finished, for better or worse, and posted!

Lotor's face may hurt even more before this trip is through. Cause I would not be surprised at all if she slapped him some more! Which is probably a better outlet for her anger, than sitting there trying not to cry. Especially when dealing with someone so arrogant and smug! XD

Aw, thanks! I like Rules of Engagement but it also makes me cringe. Some of it to me doesn't make much sense, like I tried too hard to make Lotor a nice guy in it and my earlier stories. Like too nice for it to really be Lotor. Maybe I'll get to rewrite it, improve upon some things. But so many writing projects, never enough time it seems...I also would like to finish It Takes Two. I always thought it had two more chapters to it, and I even remember the ending scene I wanted. But I feel like I would have to write it over, cause my writing style has changed so much. So Feel it would be jarring to the readers to go from reading 2002 writing to 2012 hopefully improved writing. But I also feel I wasted a chance with Lotor's clone. I have a few clone ideas to someday try...probably die before I get to write every idea I have for Voltron alone. X_X It's too inpsiring!

Thanks for the info about the Demos people being long lived race. I didn't know that! I can use that in this fic...*schemes* so Demos King will be an older, expereince man, but much to Lotor's dismay, he'll still be fit and healthy, and since they're long lived, maybe they age slower, so he can be older and not look it. Like some kind of healthy in between. Like maybe he could look late 30's, and be even older than that age wise. Loved and lost a wife, raised Corral to adult hood...had enough time to grieve, and now is ready with the right woman, to perhaps love again. *Sees Lotor seething in the corner and grins.* Heee!

You're right! Pirate Lotor botched up the first impression! XD And he has to grovel! Ryder and Alexandria should be fun to. I have to figure out more things to show during the time where they're all traveling to the outpost, but I have this idea that Ryder becomes so close to Alexandria, so in love, that he refuses to give her up. Which kinda boggles the mind to Lotor, and the other pirates, that the great playboy seducer is willing to commit to one woman!


	12. Chapter 12

It was always busiest in the days that followed a raid. Especially a raid that had been as successful as the one the Drule pirates had just enjoyed. There was treasure to be tallied, wealth to be divided, future slaves to be trained. Inquiries had to be made, identities learned, along with just how much value could be placed on each individual person. Not everyone would be able to pay the ransom the pirates would demand, not all the people identified coming from rich families, or families that were willing to pay.

Those that couldn't be ransomed, would be sold into slavery. Of that there was no question. Lotor's pirates would be busy, training, BREAKING the spirits of a group of people who had never been meant for a life of servitude. Even those who had been hired hands, would balk at the thought of a life of slavery, of working with no wage and no freedom to their name. They would be just as hard to break, if not harder, than those fat cats used to a life of luxury.

The slave training would take up the most of the pirates' time, but it wasn't always unpleasant work. Especially where the women were concerned, many of Lotor's pirates enjoying instructing the women on how to get used to the idea of existing as nothing more than an outlet for their master's pleasure. Even some of the men, the more handsome, or prettier males, were being trained for this type of future. Most of the men trained to become sex slaves, would never again know the touch of a woman, though on occasion there were females who were interested in the purchase of male flesh. But more often than not, regardless of the gender and preferences of the slaves, their potential buyers were almost always male.

There had been quite a number of beauties among the people captured, more than enough to earn Lotor and his pirates a pretty penny for the sale of them. And even the ones that weren't fit for the life of a pleasure slave, would be sold. They'd spend the rest of their lives as household slaves, or work in mines or plants, even farming lands. Beasts of burden they would become, worked hard, dying young, and sold cheap enough that it was more lucrative to replace than care for the slaves that fell sick or got injured.

Not much profit to be made from those type of slaves, Lotor much preferred dealing with those interested in paying for pleasure. He could make five times off of one sex slave what he could off a handful of those destined to work, and sometimes, if the slave was attractive enough, a bidding frenzy could be reached, potential slavers fighting each other with their bank accounts for a must have beauty.

It was all about the profit, the money he could make. Lotor cared little for the actual people, both the slaves and their masters, the pirate wanting their gold. Needing it, amassing it, saving it for the day he would make his own move, the day he would start his campaign against at least one of the two Empires he was lusting for.

Thinking about the money, about the future he wanted, Lotor was almost able to forget the memory that was haunting him. The memory of pained eyes, the beautiful blue ripe with hurt, and somehow holding back the tears the woman had to be struggling with. That kernel of sympathy he had felt, faded more with the distance he put between himself and the woman, Lotor able to focus somewhat on the things he had to do. The repairs that needed to be made, in addition to making stock of the merchandise currently spread among his pirates.

Many of them were hung over, sick from too much drink, or suffering from too few hours of sleep. Unlike their captain, they did not have the luxury of lounging in bed, many of them having duties and shifts to tend to. Such was their discipline, that they attended to the matters placed before them, although not many could work with anything less than a scowl. Lotor almost laughed to himself at what a miserable picture these pirates painted, none of them showing visible signs of the wild, lecherous fun they had had the night before.

It was no better on the command deck, many of the afternoon shift staring bleary eyed at the monitors before them. But they were active enough, squinty eyed though they were, fingers moving on the keyboards, buttons pressed, and voices calling out readings and instructions to one or another. The fact that the ship flew smooth enough, was a sign of the recuperative powers of his crew. Lotor even had confidence that should they run into trouble, the pirates would be able to deal with it all, though he wouldn't go so far as to try to raid another ship until the majority of his pirates were over their hangovers.

Lounging, with a half finished bottle in his hand, was one of the only pirates to not be affected by his drinking. Even after the three years Lotor had known him, he was still amazed by Cossack the Terrible's inability to get sick from his excessive amount of drinking. Even during the worst of his benders, half a week spent doing nothing but drinking and whoring, Cossack had walked away from it all with nothing more than a limp in his walk. Cossack could drink on end for days, yet skip over completely the period the other Drules needed in order to recover from such wild amount of partying.

"Did you get ANY sleep or have you been up all night and day?" Lotor inquired, approaching where Cossack sat.

Cossack took his time answering, downing a few more swallows from the bottle. "I snuck a nap here and there." He finally grinned in acknowledgement. "In between enjoying myself."

Lotor looked him over, noticing a few scratches on Cossack's face. He didn't ask, already guessing at to how those marks had been gotten. "Here." Lotor said, and tossed the sky blue and gray clothing he had been carrying. The maid's uniform struck Cossack in the face, the drunk pirate having not anticipated the throwing of it.

"What's this?" Cossack said, pulling down the uniform and staring at it with a wrinkled brow.

"A clue."

Cossack only seemed more confused, frowning at Lotor. "A clue eh? For what?"

"A little mouse refuses to tell me her name." Lotor explained. "I want you to find out what you can about her."

"Isn't that more Ryder's area of expertise?"

"But I don't see Ryder here." Lotor retorted, and that was something else for him to wonder about. "And this matter can't wait for him to decide to be of some use to me."

"What's the rush?" wondered Cossack out loud. "We still got time, don't we? Time to go through everyone's identification papers..."

"I'm going to have to unload some of the merchandise sooner than later." Was Lotor's cryptic answer.

Cossack stared at him. "You want to get rid of that beauty?" It was too accurate a guess, Lotor uncomfortable with the searching look the Drule gave him. "Why not just pass her to some other guy?"

Lotor felt the possessive rage rise up inside him at Cossack's question, but somehow, just barely, he managed to control his expression. "That's not going to happen." Lotor said tersely. "She stays with me until I say otherwise."

"She might not even be anyone of importance." Cossack pointed out. "Then what?"

"Leave that worry to me." Lotor told him, dismissive. "But there's a profit to be made. I'm almost certain she is someone we can ransom."

"Okay...if you say so..."

"Do you have reason to doubt my intuition?" Lotor demanded.

"Of course not captain!" Cossack quickly protested. "You're almost never wrong about these things. It's why we have had so many successful raids."

Just barely appeased, Lotor nodded at Cossack. "Then get on it at once. See what you can find from the gathered ids. She didn't keep any papers on her, but I'll be damned before I believe she is merely a maid."

"There were other women with this kind of clothing on too..." Cossack frowned, as though trying to remember. "Not a lot, but enough that we could maybe get answers from them."

"Do that." Lotor ordered. "Find and make your inquiries. Someone HAS to know something."

Cossack nodded, rising up from his seat. "I'll report back shortly." His walk was a little unsteady, but Cossack was still far from the point he'd collapse into a drunken sleep. He was more than able to function to the point of doing what Lotor ordered him to do, to not only function but get the answers his captain so desperately desired.

Lotor refused to think on what would happen once he had the answers to who that woman was. He refused to think on the parting that might happen, or to dwell on the fact he wasn't as eager as he professed to be to rid himself of the woman. Not when he still lusted for her, the strength of his desires for her body, almost equal to the ones that told Lotor to rid himself of her.

Instead he busied himself with other things, seeing to the ship's repairs. The pleasure yacht hadn't had much in the way of defense or of offensive capabilities, but had still managed to do some minor damage to the pirates' ships. There was laser scarring all on the side of one of the ships, and a few panels had been blown off, exposing important wires. Members of the maintenance crew would be sent out, properly suited up, and secured to the ship by a long coil of strong but flexible cable. They would work to replace the panels, and check on the exposed wires to make sure none had been severed, or were close to tearing apart.

It wasn't the only order maintenance had to fulfill. The weaponry had to be checked, some of the laser guns replaced. The supply levels of photon energy had to be checked, and one outside tank would be discovered to have sustained a small hole that was still big enough to leak out it's contents at an alarming rate.

Even the ion cannons were checked, Lotor relieved to see that none of them had been dealt any disabling damage. And then of course was his father's weapon, the secret the Doom Empire's best scientists had been working on for years. Encased inside the ship, it had only been exposed during the times needed to fire it. Short though that time was, it was still a large enough to be an unmissable target, requiring much of the ship's shielding to be diverted to protect it during the times it was exposed to enemy fire.

Like the ship, it had an abundance of laser scarring on it's metal hide. But it hadn't been blown apart, the thick metal and the shielding protecting it. It had only had to be fired twice, before the pleasure yacht had succumbed to the weapon's attack. As amazing at it was to have so easily destroyed another ship's defenses, it was almost more so astonishing that such a powerful weapon had held together. That it hadn't torn apart the casing that kept the energy contained.

By all angles, the testing had been a success. The weapon had preformed as it was meant to do, and it hadn't fallen apart during the use of it. The energy levels used had been registered, the readings would prove fascinating to Doom's scientists. But King Zarkon would not be pleased. Not when he learned it had been used on so defenseless a ship, and used at the borders of enemy territory. Lotor could already imagine the yelling he would be the recipient of. The ranting and raving, the scolding. He would endure it all, make excuses, use this inadequate test as the reason why the weapon should remain in Lotor's hands. Even if Zarkon suspected the real reason behind Lotor's poor judgment where the weapon was concerned, he wouldn't be able to act just yet. He'd have no choice but to leave the weapon in Lotor's hands.

It was exactly what Lotor wanted. He had no intention of handing over the weapon to his father. Not now, not ever. And when that became apparent, it would be on, the gauntlet thrown down between them, war erupting between the King and the crown prince of Doom.

It was moving things along faster than Lotor had first wanted. But the weapon was such a game changer, that Lotor knew he couldn't allow it to ever be returned to King Zarkon. Father and son they may be, but Zarkon wouldn't hesitate to use it against Lotor. Just as Lotor wouldn't hesitate to use it against Zarkon.

The weapon was able to tear through a ship's defense easily, blow to bits the hardest of metals. It was even rumored to have the capability to shut down a shielding powerful enough to protect a whole planet. Supposedly with just one of these, you could take on a small fleet with only star cutters for back up, and WIN. Lotor had seen enough of it's power, to believe the hype. And thus he had one of his crew report back to Doom, making excuses to Zarkon and his court, Lotor claiming to be too busy at this time to actually talk to his father.

It took time, not just for Lotor to be done with his inspections, but for Cossack to look over the gathered ids. While Lotor waited for Cossack's findings, he enjoyed a late lunch, and even took the time to have his chef prepare another aphrodisiac heavy meal for the beautiful captive locked in his cabin. It gave Lotor quite the chuckle to imagine her reaction to the meal, to the glare she would give young Smythe.

He even wondered if she would eat it, or if it would end up on Smythe and the floor. But it wouldn't stop him from antagonizing her, on making sure that all future meals featured known aphrodisiacs in some way. As though he wanted the woman raging as lustful as Lotor himself felt whenever he so much as looked at her.

That out of control lust, that intense desire? It downright disturbed him, Lotor unused to wanting that badly. It almost knocked him off his routine, Lotor unsettled by his reactions to the woman. It made him feel as though she retained some upper hand, as though it was she not him that was in control. And though he could drive her wild in the midst of sex, she was dispassionate before and after. Her emotions ran from hot to cold, the woman struggling with her anger. But for all the passionate responses she did show him, the woman had yet show any true enthusiasm for the acts they did together save for when she was on the verge of achieving a climax.

It was almost an insult, Lotor annoyed by the fact she could remain so unaffected by the thought of sex with him. He was used to women swooning, women clamoring for a morsel of affection thrown their way. Hell, he was used to women growing wet just from anticipation of his touch, and even those that had refused him the first time, had grown to enjoy, to love the things Lotor did to them.

But not the woman. Not even after seven or so times. She acted as angry, as put upon as she had the first time. It was reluctant, the enjoyment she did take from him, and it maddened Lotor so. He wasn't used to being in a woman's power, to being the one desperate for a favorable response. And yet wasn't that exactly the appeal of the woman, her lack of typical reactions, and the challenge she was presenting him? As much as it bothered Lotor to not have her turning cartwheels at his command, it also intrigued him. He enjoyed himself too much when in her company, and not just for sex, but for the mere act of talking. She fascinated him, and that was the danger, Lotor needing her to be gone before he completely lost his head.

He was all too eager to talk to Cossack, grabbing at the pocket communicator he always tried to carry. With his thoughts about the woman, and his own reactions to her, tormenting him, Lotor all but growled into the communicator.

"What's taking so long?!"

"There's a problem." Came Cossack's answer. Lotor tried to keep from snarling, counting to ten in his mind, before demanding Cossack elaborate. "We're missing a few of the merchandise's identification papers."

"Let me guess. That includes my guest?"

"And the other three who were dressed similarly to her." Cossack confirmed with a sigh. "So far none of them are talking. Hell, none of them even acknowledge that there was a fourth among them."

"Which means either my pet stole a spare uniform, or they're covering for her." Lotor grinned, but it lacked any true warmth or humor to that expression. "Interesting. The mystery gets more intriguing."

"It just a pain in the ass, if you ask me." Cossack grumbled, leaving Lotor to wonder just what had happened when the pirate had made his inquires to the other women. "What's to be gained by all this cloak and dagger nonsense?"

"What indeed." Lotor murmured to himself. But his intuition was humming, practically screaming at him that there was more than just the normal profit to be had. He just didn't know what, but Lotor was eager to find out. To gain whatever it was he could get from exposing the woman for who she really was.

"Gather those three in the hold. You know which room." Lotor said to Cossack. There was a pause, a slight hesitation before Cossack the Terrible spoke.

"Are you sure?"

"Are you actually questioning one of my orders?" Lotor demanded coldly.

"No...not exactly."

"Then what?" Lotor asked with a sneer.

"Just want you to remember your own rules where women and merchandise are concerned." Cossack muttered.

"I am not going to do anything...permanent to them. I'm just going to make my own inquiries." He could almost imagine Cossack shivering in response, Lotor's tone of voice that cold and menacing. Hell, he himself would be chilled to hear it, but it was more than just curiosity driving him now. The need, the desperation he felt because of the woman, and the ingrained instincts that told him to do everything he could to carve her out of his system before it was too late, was goading him on. It mixed with the voice, that intuition that told him there was something more going on, something that would lead him to bigger and better things than a mere ransom ever could.

To Be Continued...

Didn't get as far as I thought I would with this chapter. I've also been fretting, cause...well the interrogation scenes. I'm worrying I'm either gonna make people really hate pirate Lotor, or dislike Allura, or not like either one of them! I have to handle the interrogation stuff very carefully...hope it doesn't spiral too badly out of control.

I also want to thank Amanda for letting me vent at her all my fears and insecurities for the upcoming scenes. Even if I haven't yet put into effect anything I mentioned to her. Thanks hon!

-Michelle


	13. Chapter 13

It was dark in the hold of the ship, the dim lighting there not able to fully chase away the shadows that crept out of every corner. It didn't matter to the Drules, their eyes enough like a cat to be able to see with just a sliver of light to their surroundings. Not that there was much to see, a line of cells on either side of Lotor, jam packed and crowded full of frightened men and women.

The cells weren't very clean, unsavory smells and the scent of fear and misery mingling, making Lotor wrinkle his nose in distaste. The slaves would have to be cleaned before they could be sold, but for now they would be left to wallow in their own filth.

Not many would outright look at Lotor, and the pirates that accompanied him. Murmured whispers could be heard, Lotor being compared to a devil, people shuffling to the back of their cells. Women clutched at each other for comfort, hiding their faces, shivering. The men were frightened too, but some clutched at a false bravado, standing close to the bars, fisting them.

Moans were heard, people begging for mercy, for freedom. The whispered curses continued, the pirates ignoring everything that was happening around them. Lotor stalked down the long line of floor between the cells, pulling his leather gloves tight before flexing his fingers in anticipation. Wondering what tools would be needed, just how much pushing he would have to do, before someone broke and gave him the answers he wanted.

He didn't feel disturbed, though Lotor couldn't help but wish the women wouldn't prove difficult. It would spare him and THEM a lot of fuss and muss, Lotor not particularly liking hurting women in this way. But neither would he allow them to play games with him, to let his questions go unanswered. He would find out what was going on, what profit there was to be made off the women and the secret they shared between them.

A hand suddenly lashed out, it's arm reaching between the bars. Grabbing at Lotor's arm, an angry face sneering at him. He didn't understand the language the man was speaking, but Lotor understood the anger, the helpless rage the man was feeling. He certainly understood it when the man spit in his face, Lotor twisting, breaking out of the grip, only to grab onto the man's arm. The man quickly realized the error of his ways when Lotor began putting pressure on that arm, the man babbling, begging in a mix of the universal basic and his own language.

There was a stir from the cells, people shuffling to the bars, watching. The whispers died down, Lotor almost smiling. But it was no true warmth to that expression, the smile an unpleasant little curve to his lips.

"I might have excused filth like you for touching me." Lotor told him, in a tone that was false in it's friendliness. "I might have even overlooked that you spat at me. But your defiance must be punished." With that said, he broke the man's arm, his scream mingling with the horrified cries of the other prisoners.

Immediately after Lotor let go of the man, others in the cell hurried to take him away from the bars. The sobbing, injured man was swallowed up in their protective embrace, but there was few angry looks given to Lotor. Instead it was all fear, the people loathing to find out what else the pirate captain might do to them.

Using the back of his hand to wipe the spit of his cheek, Lotor resumed walking. His companions paced behind him, watching to make sure no one else would be foolish enough to attempt anything.

At the end of the corridor, before a barred door, stood Cossack the Terrible. The pirate had watched as his captain had broken that one man's arms, and from his expression he didn't approve.

"Shit." Cossack said as way of greeting to Lotor. "You know how long a broken arm takes to heal? We're gonna have a hard time unloading a slave that injured!"

Lotor was unrepentant, gesturing for Cossack to lift the heavy bar and open the door to the room beyond the hold's cells. "Let him be a lesson to the others. Defiance will not be tolerated."

"Yeah, I understand that. Just don't like you damaging the goods before they are sold." Cossack continued to grumble. The heavy bar took two Drules to lift it, the door groaning in protest as it swung open.

It was completely dark in this room, Lotor stalking inside. There was no moaning, no crying, but he could hear someone breathing. Short panicked little breaths that proved at least one of the three women here could not control her fear. The breath would only become that much more out of control once the pirates brought in lanterns, the light bringing into focus the three women that hung by chains around their arms.

Their feet barely reached the floor, the women having to stand on tip toe in order to keep from swinging. Someone, perhaps Cossack, had shown enough pity to allow them to dress before being brought here. All three wore the tattered remains of sky blue and gray uniforms that were a more torn replica of the one Lotor's beauty had worn.

Three women, and each a different flavor. Lotor noted that one had dyed her hair blonde, the color not quite covering her darker roots. This one was the one panicking, the one who couldn't quite control her breathing, and who had a constant stream of tears running down her face. She trembled enough that her chains rattle noticeably, Lotor stalking towards her.

"Don't!" It wasn't the blonde who had cried out when Lotor attempted to touch his fingers to her bruised cheek. Instead it was the angriest looking of the three, the woman with the flaming red hair. Her clothes were the most tattered, her cheek bearing an ugly bruise under one eye. Various scratches could be seen on her arms through the cuts in her sleeves, and yet none of this made her too afraid to speak. In fact, she looked at Lotor with absolute revulsion, hate and anger burning in her narrowed eyes.

"Don't you touch her." She said, her teeth flashing in a snarl.

Lotor dropped his arm, looking at the red head. She didn't seem at all frightened to be the new focus of his attention, scowling at him.

"And why shouldn't I?" Lotor asked, more curious than anything.

"Haven't you done enough?" She retorted. "Haven't you all done enough?"

"Apparently not, if you think to speak to me like this." Came Lotor's reply.

"I'll speak to you however I damn well please!" She hissed.

"Well then, since you are in so talkative a mood..." Lotor gave her that unpleasant little smile, stepping towards where she hung. "Then you can answer a few questions for me."

"I will tell you nothing that you want to hear." She lifted her chin, her very manner rife with stubbornness.

"Don't think they're going to talk so easily." Cossack muttered.

"You just haven't asked the right questions." suggested one of the other pirates.

"Or maybe he forgot to say please." laughed another. The red hair flinched at the sound of that laughter, but her glare never broke off from Lotor.

"I find it's often not the questions themselves, but HOW you ask that get results." Lotor said, watching with some amusement at how the red head tried to bite his fingers when he touched her face. "What IS your name?"

Silence, the woman just glaring.

"You do have one, don't you?"

"OF course I do! But it's none of your business!" She snapped.

Lotor grabbed at her chin, his grip painful as he got right in her face. "As long as your on my ship, in my care..." Her lips sneered at that last one, the woman trying to jerk free of his bruising grip. "Everything you say, everything you do, even what you think is my business. Until you've been sold, I own you. I own ALL of you. Now tell me what your name is."

"Burn in hell!" She spat back at him, actually getting off of tip toe in an attempt to kick Lotor. He caught her foot by the ankle, and if she had been a man, he wouldn't have hesitated to twist and break it.

"Now now...do you realize how foolish you are being? How foolish all of you are being? It's just a name...and yet you guard it so fervently. That alone lets me know something very odd is happening here...and I won't rest until I find out what it is."

"Then I hope you die of exhaustion!" She was trying to get her foot free, and Lotor put just a little pressure on it in warning. "Damn it, let go!"

"Your name." Lotor said in response.

"Captain um...you're not gonna..." Came Cossack's worried voice. Lotor ignored him putting more pressure on the foot, staring into the redhead's eyes.

"Please stop..." Came the voice of the third woman. A pretty brunette with tear filled eyes.

"You're a tough one, aren't you?" Lotor asked the red head. Her lower lip was starting to tremble, her anger dulled just a little by pain. "You'd really let me break your foot rather than tell me anything? All right..."

"DON'T!" screamed the two other women, just as Lotor abruptly dropped the woman's foot. She was left swinging, her expression as shocked at it was frightened.

"What? You're not gonna...why?"

"It won't serve my purpose." Her brow furrowed at Lotor's answer, the woman not understanding. The other two were sobbing, relieved and frightened and knowing it was not over yet. "I bet you're willing to let me break all the bones in your body, and even then you'd tell me nothing. I'd succeed at nothing but wasting my time and ruining a slave I could sell."

"We're not slaves." Came the automatic response, which Lotor ignored. He stepped away from the still swinging red head, his hand touching the back of the brunette. Interesting enough Cossack stiffened at that, his expression tight with displeasure.

"Problem?" Lotor asked.

"No, none." Cossack said, his tone tense enough to let Lotor know he lied. Lotor tsked, but didn't pursue it, keeping his hand on the woman as he circled around her.

"How about you?" Lotor purred. "Are you willing to die to protect your secrets?"

"What secrets?" Suddenly Lotor's hands were in the brunette's long hair, painfully pulling on it. She cried out in pain, and out the corner of his eye, Lotor saw Cossack reacting,

"Stay where you are Cossack!" He snapped.

"But..."

"Don't interfere with my inquiries." Lotor told him. He kept on pulling on the woman's hair, the brunette having managed to control anymore cries from coming out.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked in a hoarse tone of voice. "We're no one."

"Maybe, maybe not. The fact that you refuse to tell me who you are, that all four of you won't even give me a name, is suspicion in and of itself."

"Four?"

Lotor could give the woman credit, her expression looking totally confused. "You're quite the little actress, aren't you my dear?"

"There's only three of us, not..."

Lotor jerked on her hair once more. "Lie to me about that one more time, and I bring out the knives."

The blonde with the dyed hair continued to cry, and now the red head began swearing. Lotor sighed and rolled his eyes, not sure which sound exasperated him more. "Someone shut her up." Lotor snapped when the redhead began insulting his mother.

One of the pirates hurried to gag the red head, her legs kicking, her body swinging for her struggles. Even once gagged, she continued to make infuriated sounds, Lotor trying to ignore her as best he could.

"Your friend is very feisty." Lotor said to the brunette. "That kind of spirit will get her killed if she's not broken of it."

"Please, oh please." Came the repeated sobbing of the blonde.

"There are FOUR of you." Lotor said. "Another blonde, who unlike your friend prone to bawling, has hair that is naturally that color." His smirk was answer enough as to why he knew that, the color leeching out of the brunettes skin.

"She was wearing the same uniform as you. And just like you, she had no papers, and refuses to give me her name. Why is that?"

"I...I..."

He had a feeling she was going to lie to him again. "Cossack."

"Yes captain?" Cossack's voice was extremely unhappy.

"I think our guest here is in need of a visual aid to serve as a reminder." Lotor smiled. "Go...get the woman from my cabin. Maybe the sight of her will jog someone's memory."

"Fine just..."

"Just what?" Lotor demanded.

"Just don't do anything else until I get back." Was Cossack's gruff answer before he hurried out of the room.

Cossack's request was an odd one, and one Lotor wasn't entirely eager to grant. He circled around the brunette once more, the woman twisting, trying to keep him in sight. The red head growled low in her throat, but she was nothing more than a kitten playing at being a tiger. The third one continued her miserable sniveling, practically choking on her own tears. Even with the mess her crying made of her face, Lotor could see the glimmer of beauty that would be more apparent once she had calmed down, and cleaned herself up. She wasn't the only one, each of these three holding varying degrees of pretty to their faces, even with their fear, or in the red head's case, her hostility.

Certainly the three were attractive enough that they would most likely avoid the backbreaking work of mine slaves. But it was doubtful if all but the brunette would get a chance to be a pleasure slave. With the incessant crying of the blonde, and the fierce anger of the redhead, a whole lot of personality rebuilding would have to be done. Frankly he wasn't sure three weeks was enough time for that, especially where the red head was concerned.

"Why are you looking at us like that?" The brunette bravely asked. Her voice almost didn't waver, the woman trembling as Lotor turned back to her. He had a speculative look in his eyes, one he didn't bother to hide.

"I am taking stock of the merchandise."

"Merchandise?" She blinked, and the gagged red head let out a stream of muffled anger. "You're not really going to sell us?"

"Of course I am." Lotor told her. The one with the dyed hair seemed to sob louder, her chest heaving rapidly. "But where you end up, what kind of situation and master you gain, is entirely dependant on how truthful you are with me."

She didn't look like she entirely understood. "End up? A slave is a slave, no matter who the master is..."

Lotor tsked. "So naive." He patted her cheek in response to the insulted look she flashed him. "There's quite a few differences. The key is, do you want to spend your life on your back in some harem, or have it be broken down in the mines of some far away world."

"Neither appeals." She retorted, the redheaded muffled snarls an emphatic agreement to that.

"Tell that to the slaves who would kill for a chance at the luxuries afforded to those who end up in some harem."

"It's not a hard life." Spoke up one of the other pirates in the room. "Just have to spread your legs a few times a month."

"I'll take my chances in the mines." She retorted coldly.

"You think that will spare you from abuse?" Lotor asked. "As if the slavers in charge have never taken advantage of those in their care?" She actually shuddered in response, Lotor fighting not to flash her a predatory smile. "I can of course...make arrangements for you."

"Arrangements?"

"Better the situation you're facing."

"And all I have to do is...give you the information you want?" She asked, the red head making frantic noises, shaking her head no. Lotor smiled at the brunette just before she spit in his face. "No, never!"

Faster than his blink of surprise, Lotor slapped the woman across the face. Several things happened then, another woman screaming, her voice all too familiar to him even if the horrified sound she made was not. There was someone grabbing at him, the pirates cursing, both grabbing at Cossack.

"You weren't gonna do anything until I got back!" snarled Cossack.

Lotor jerked free of the man's grip, turning to look at him as he adjusted his jacket. "Have you drank away all semblance of your sanity?!" Lotor demanded. "Or are you actually feeling sympathy for a prisoner?!"

"I..." Cossack opened and closed his mouth, still angry, still upset. But the tension in his arms was easing, Cossack relaxing in the grip of the other two pirates. "Just don't think you should be damning any further merchandise."

"Your concern is duly noted." Lotor retorted coldly. "Can you control yourself? Or will there be more drunken outbursts?!"

"I'm fine." Cossack grumbled. "I just overreact where money is concerned."

"Don't we all." Lotor murmured, then nodded for Cossack to be released. The Drule shot the two pirates that had restrained him a dark look, before grabbing the arm of the woman who had accompanied him to this room. It was Lotor's blonde beauty, the woman wide eyed and pale skinned, staring at the three girls who were still hanging from the room's ceiling.

"So good of you to join us, pet." Lotor's voice immediately snapped her attention to him, the anguish in her eyes unable to properly power her glare.

"You fiend! What are you doing?!"

"I'm doing what I have to, to find out what you won't tell me." Lotor calmly retorted.

"And you think torture is the way?"

"Well my asking you nicely hasn't netted any results has it?" Lotor chuckled. At his laugh, her beautiful blue eyes became angry, and only Cossack's grip on her kept the woman from launching herself at Lotor.

"You may want to string her up with the rest of them, captain." Suggested one of the pirates. The other laughed in agreement.

"She looks more than Cossack can handle!"

The woman was struggling wildly in Cossack's grip, shooting glares at all the Drules, as though she would attack each and every one of them. "Monsters!" She snarled, Cossack almost unable to hold her back from her lunge.

"We've been called worse." retorted one of the pirates.

"Enough." Lotor said, taking hold of the woman's face by her chin. She narrowed her eyes at him, a fierce spitfire who refused to back down. "Now that you've been reunited with your friends, maybe some answers can be had."

Her lips sealed together, flattened in disapproval. The back drop of sounds had died down, no laughter, no angry muffled words, and even the crying had lessened in intensity.

"Someone is GOING to talk to me." Lotor said, his tone dangerous. "Or else I will become a lot less merciful than I've already been?"

"Merciful? You called hitting a woman merciful?!"

"When I could have gutted her with my sword?" Lotor demanded in return. The woman's skin paled further, her expression horrified. "I've been quite kind, all things considered. But it ends here. Tell me who you are, and what planet you come from."

"I...I'm no one. I'm just a maid."

"Just a maid doesn't cause nearly this much trouble to herself and her friends." Lotor retorted. "Nor does she inspire this much loyalty."

"Your blinded by your distaste for the servant class."

"That is not what we are here to discuss."

"I'm not here to discuss anything with you." She snapped out a command, seeming very much like a regal woman. "Now let down these innocent women, and leave them be of your twisted mercies!"

"No." Just a word, but it angered her, the woman's lip curling in a sneer.

"Bully."

"Maybe so, but it gets me results." Lotor let go of her face, to hold his hand out. Someone put a black leather whip in his open hand. He never broke his gaze with the woman, his arm moving, the whip making a snap of sound in the air.

CRACK!

She flinched at the sound of it, shaking in Cossack's grip.

"The real interrogation begins here." Lotor said, giving the woman that special, unpleasant, little smile of his.

Noise came back to the room, the pirates laughing, the red head snarling. The other two women began crying, the dyed blonde practically hyperventilating. And yet neither one began begging for mercy, neither began spilling secrets in a desperate attempt to keep the whip from them.

Lotor turned slowly, fingering the leather whip as he eyed his three targets. Even he wasn't sure who he would whip first, his arm raising. The woman screamed out, "STOP!" but his hand was already cracking the whip, it's flexible leather striking towards the red head.

To Be Continued...

Cliff hanger I know. Oh man, this was such a difficult chapter to write. It's hard to write an interrogation scene without the interogees being beaten, whipped, abused, sexually abused...it was very hard. I felt very held back in holding back Lotor...I still don't know if I held him back enough, and yet I hope he did come off menacing too.

I feel a bit frustrated, cause I feel like this story is...well not taking on a life of it's own. Not yet anyway. But I feel like it's trying to tell me, or almost trying to tell me a romance isn't possible for these two. It makes me upset...but I still like the story. Still got interrogation stuff to do, so I'm worrying nonstop here. So we'll see what happens.

I also feel kinda annoyed, cause originally when Cossack returned, he was supposed to say something about "You might want to string up this one too once you see what she did to your closet." But because of how the scene got written, and because of something future wise involving Cossack, I didn't get to use the bit about the closet. I did get one of the other pirates to suggest stringing Allura up however! XD

Glad to have this chapter over with!

-Michelle


	14. Chapter 14

Sound thundered out of her, words like stop, and don't, issuing out in a scream. Her cries couldn't deafen Allura to the sound of the whip cracking, the woman struggling, watching wide eyed as the whip snaked it's way towards Jacquelyn.

Other screams joined hers, the women screaming themselves hoarse in horror. The whip's end found it's mark, the raggedy cloth gag tied around Jacquelyn's head, snapping off. The screams continued, the shock not yet settling in to silence them. Allura herself cried out in broken relief, sagging in place. She would have dropped right to the floor, if not for the strong grip of the pirate Cossack's arms.

The cloth gag seemed to flutter, floating almost serenely to the floor. Allura's eyes tracked it's movements, watching it settle before risking a glance at Jacquelyn's face. Her legs already boneless, tried to collapse once again, Allura wilting in relief to see no marks, no blood, no new bruises on the red haired woman's face. Somehow, the whip had avoided touching her, cleanly snapping the gag free. It was amazing, and yet terrifying, Allura hardly calmed by the sound of Jacquelyn's furious cursing.

As fiery as her hair color, Jacquelyn did not allow her fright to silence her tongue. She spewed venom and threats, insulting all the men in the room, her chains rattling with her struggles. But her skin had paled, her eyes were too wide, showing it was false the bravado she displayed.

Patreesia, with the dyed blonde hair was crying softly, an occasional loud hiccup escaping her. Poor Marie looked closed to fainting, an ugly bruise already forming on her cheek from where the pirate captain had slapped her. Allura could still hear someone screaming, and with a start, realized it was her voice that she heard.

It was easier said then done, to gain control of herself. To stop the screaming, to stand upright with firm legs. But she steeled herself together, reluctantly aided by the pirate Cossack's grip, trusting him to not let her collapse anytime soon. And as she built herself up to be strong, to be bold, to not break or falter, she met the waiting captain's gaze. He seemed to nod in approval, as if liking how quickly Allura had pulled herself together. It only made her glare harder at him, Allura wishing for the power to do more than that. To hurt him, to control him, to make him pay for his sins.

Lotor still held the whip in one hand, the other fingering it's leather coils. Allura didn't allow so much as a shudder to go through her, though privately she was terrified. More frightened than awed by his skill, by the realization that he was so expert at this, that he could control the whip down to the finest of movements. It was no accident that only the gag had been whipped off, the captain's precision and finesse such that he hadn't even come close to breaking her friend's skin. He had been showing off, showing them all just what he was capable of, and Allura had no doubt his next snap of the whip, would do much more than rip off some piece of flimsy cloth.

"I was right about you." Allura was amazed her voice didn't break, that it didn't hold any of her fright in it's tone. "You are nothing more than a bully."

"Oh I am plenty of things." Lotor said, holding a hand up to stave off angry comments from his pirates. "Determined and curious most of all."

"I don't see why." Allura sniffed. "It's not as if we matter. And it's not as if you won't make enough money off selling us into slavery. And not just us. You have a whole dungeon's worth of people in your ship's hold. You'll make a small fortune just from the sale of them alone, never mind what you'll get from the ransoms of the others."

"She's got a point..." muttered the pirate that stood behind her.

"I did not ask for your opinion, Cossack." Lotor retorted. "And it's true..." He smiled then. "We will make quite the fortune from this latest haul. But it's not enough."

"So you are greedy in addition to being needlessly cruel?" Allura demanded.

"I have aspirations that require money to fund them. "

"I can understand needing money, but not this much." Allura shook her head no. "Nor can I imagine you living long enough to SPEND it all."

"My pirates don't work for free." Was Lotor's answer. "But I didn't gather you here to discuss what I intend to do with the money..."

She tried not to, but Allura was sure her skin had paled once again. The pirate captain grinned, but made no move towards her. Instead he looked towards Jacquelyn, raising his whip wielding hand once more.

"Wait!" Allura cried out, her mind frantic to come up with something, anything to get him to stop. But she couldn't tell him the truth, couldn't give him her true identity. Arus would suffer in the place of the three women here, and Allura understood it was an unacceptable trade. She couldn't sacrifice her planet and people, for only three people. Even if the three were close to her, friends as well as attendants.

She was facing one of those unappealing choices, one of those ruthless decisions she had to make as heir to Arus' throne. Her stomach rolled with the knowledge, cramping in response to the idea that she would not only have to watch her friends be hurt, but have to stand by and allow it by remaining quiet.

The pirate captain had turned towards her, an eyebrow raised as he waited for Allura to say something. She felt very much like screaming, the room spinning, the very walls seeming to close in on her. Allura was sure she was about to faint, and struggled to retain her sanity and awareness. It must have shown on her face, an unexpected sympathy being expressed by the pirate.

"Poor pet..." Lotor was in front of her, caressing her cheek with his hand as Jacquelyn continued to snarl out insults. "This strain is really too much for you. Come...unburden yourself. Tell me what I require, and then you can go back to my cabin and rest."

The thought of resting was lovely, Allura wanting to just close her eyes and sleep. But she couldn't in good conscience do even that. Feeling sick, but determined, Allura raised her chin, looking the pirate square in the eye.

"If you're going to torture anyone, it should be ME."

Immediate gasps sounded from the other women, some of the pirates laughing at her sacrifice. The pirate Cossack who held her, tightened his grip on her arms, but Allura didn't try to struggle. The captain Lotor stared at her, his eyes judging, taking the measure of her words and deeming her serious.

"An intriguing offer. And one I might yet take you up on." He was back to touching her face, stroking fingers over her lips. His gold colored eyes seemed to gleam, a predatory excitement to them as though he liked the idea of torture.

"Don't." whispered Patreesia in between sobs. Marie and Jacquelyn echoed that word, almost begging Allura to reconsider. It only made the pirates more curious, their captain determined to figure out just what was going on.

"I must say, whatever is going on, it must be big." Lotor was practically purring now. "Something that is so important, so valuable to you, that you all would rather be abused than give up your secret."

"Makes me want to know about it all the more." One of the pirates laughed.

"But what could that something be..." Lotor continued to muse out loud. "And how far must I go, before you break and tell me."

"They're no good to us dead." Cossack said, his reproachful reminder making Allura shiver.

"I don't intend to kill anyone." Lotor insisted in response. His gaze remained on Allura, curious and intent, waiting for her to react.

"You are wasting your time..."

"We're nobody of any importance." added Marie.

"Maybe you're not." Lotor retorted, gripping Allura's chin. "But this one? I have a hunch about her. And my hunches are seldom wrong."

"Ain't that the truth." One of the pirates said.

"What...what does your hunch say about me?" Allura asked. She watched him smile, the pirate captain leaning in close so that his lips almost touched hers.

"Ah my pretty pet...you're special. But how special remains to be seen." Thankfully he didn't actually kiss her, Allura knowing she wouldn't have been able to tolerate such a thing at this time. "You're obviously a woman of breeding. Someone rich enough to not have known work. But what are you...? Hmmm?"

"No...no one..."

"A duchess? A lady of some court? Some viscount's daughter?" Lotor was watching her, studying her face for a betrayal. "I know..." his eyes had lit up, his smile wicked. "A princess."

Allura fought her reactions, wanting to flinch at the word princess. She managed to keep still, her eyes staying narrowed in a glare when they wanted to widen in shock. "Don't be absurd." She managed to say, a breathy little, unconcerned laugh leaving her. "I am hardly princess material."

"Yes, a princess." Lotor spoke as though Allura had said nothing.

"But what would a princess be doing out here, traveling on such a pitiful ship?" Wondered Cossack out loud.

"Exactly." Allura quickly said. "The very notion is absurd."

"Absurd but not entirely unheard of." countered Lotor. He continued to grip her chin, preventing her from turning away from his piercing gaze. "I can think of several reasons, and they all add up to profit for me."

"Profit?" Allura didn't have to fake her displeasure, downright sneering at him. "Is that all you think of?"

"No, not all." Lotor retorted, his smile wicked as he looked her over. Allura was thankful she didn't break out into a blush, though her skin did grow warmer in angry response. "But you'll find how devoted I can be, when in the pursuit of it. So..." A brush of his thumb over her bottom lip, his grip on her chin relaxing. "Tell me, my pet...what were you escaping? An unwanted political marriage perhaps? Or an uprising that would leave the ruling class of your world in exile and dead? What duty were you trying to abandon by fleeing?"

She felt a cold rage flow through her, Allura indignant and sneering. "I would NEVER, ever abandon my duty." She was hissing, almost unable to stop the words from coming out. "Not to my world, nor to my..." She abruptly snapped her lips shut, Allura stifling the word people from coming out. But it was too late, the pirate captain smiling in victory.

"Your honor and loyalty betray you, my lady." Lotor laughed. "As does your sense of duty."

If looks could cause a man to drop down dead, this pirate would have collapsed on the spot by the hostility of Allura's glare.

"Duty bound to your world, what great urgency could have caused you to leave it? And in such a manner?"

"I keep telling you, I am no one of any importance." The words came out cold, no betraying waver to her voice.

"You may tell me that a thousand times, and I still would not believe you." Lotor retorted.

"Be reasonable." Allura let out a humorless snort. "I know it is much to ask, for one such as you..."

"One such as me?"

"Spoiled bully that you are." Allura continued. "But THINK about this. If I truly mattered...would I not have had a larger group traveling with me? Soldiers, and personal guards, in addition to servants and an advisor?"

"Perhaps." He acknowledged. "But perhaps those others were killed during the chaos of the raid."

She was frustrated, though Allura hid it well. "Bloodthirsty beast!" He didn't even try to deny it, Lotor simply smiling at her. "Why would I travel without papers of some kind? Surely we wouldn't be so stupid as to go out without something, even if it was a false identity in which we could hide behind."

The slightest chink in his armor, the pirate captain allowing a light of uncertainty in his eyes. Allura would continue to play on it, to feed his uncertainty to the point he accepted her words as truth.

"If I could...if I HAD a false name, I would give it to you, just to be done with this nonsense. But I am no one. My family is poor, hardly capable of paying any such ransom you would demand. I don't wish to burden them with the grief of knowing I am in the hands of pirates, and about to be sold into slavery. None of us do."

The other three women began echoing their agreements, the pirates frowning in response. That included their captain, Lotor giving Allura a hard look. She didn't so much as fidget under his scrutiny, Allura staring back, steeled eyed and sincere.

"I suppose there is some...merit in considering this angle you present." Lotor finally allowed. She couldn't so much as sigh in relief, just watching him, waiting. "After all, what royal would be STUPID enough to travel with out some sort of papers, some sort of identification, even a false one?"

She had just barely kept from flinching at the word stupid, Allura knowing they really had been that to leave Arus without false identities in place. But there had been next to no time, the situation on Arus that urgent, the risk of discovery too great. They had all but left like thieves, sneaking off the planet with little besides the clothes on their backs and some spares.

"What royal indeed." Allura said softly, as if she didn't care either way. But she didn't relax, unable to tell if the pirate was truly believing her, or about to crush her in a brutal dismissal of what she claimed.

"Fine...you and your...friends, are spared the whip for now."

Allura couldn't stop the shiver that went through her at that.

"But I want your name." Lotor continued. "You can at least tell me that much." She hesitated, and the pirate nearly rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Come now. What harm do you think a name will do? The universe is too vast, the worlds too many, for me to be able to match a face to a planet just on a name alone."

It made sense to Allura, the woman slowly nodding her head in acceptance. But it wasn't her name she would give him, nor would it be that of her mother's. In fact she wouldn't give him a name of anyone in her family, fearing it would somehow lead him to the truth of who she really was, and where she came from.

"I...my name is..." One more hesitation, Allura sighing with her whole body. "Alicia."

"Alicia." His hand was touching her cheek, a light, airy caress as he smiled at her. He seemed far too pleased with the name, a fact that instantly set Allura on alert. "Take her back to my cabin."

"Right." Cossack changed his grip, going from holding her in a tight embrace, to merely holding onto one of her arms.

"And someone wake up Ryder." Lotor continued, already heading towards the room's sole exit. "I have a job for him."

"Wait, what about my friends?!" Allura cried out, trying to jerk free of Cossack's hand.

"Someone will get around to cutting them down eventually." His words left her sputtering, angry protests and half formed pleas following his retreating back. By the time the pirate Cossack began dragging her out of the room, Allura's vision was colored red, the woman angry but also wondering if she hadn't just somehow made a big mistake where the pirates were concerned.

To Be continued...

Sorry for the long wait for the chapter. With bad insomnia, and hurricanes to worry about, not to mention stressing about all the interrogation stuff...well it took a while to write this one. It didn't go anywhere like I thought it was gonna...

I also want to thank some people. Mainly Amanda, Megs, Angel...oh my friend M.E. Faces, why do I feel like I am forgetting someone. Anyone who listened to me stress, worry and bitch about these interrogation scenes, and my fears, and my aggravations at feeling like I was holding myself back in holding Lotor back.

I always knew Lotor didn't actually hit the girl with the whip. It was just the gag that got hit. But the way the chapter deviated was, at one point I thought Allura would end up strung up, Lotor would clear the room, get all hot and bothered by her. I had this image in my head of him accusing her of being some kind of witch (for affecting him so strongly.) just before he kisses her. I even had thoughts of an Allura POV for after that...! But none of this actually happened.

So roll with the punches I say. Oh! I think Well Read Smith was another person who I should thank! And Amanda was the one who brought up the idea of false identities...which made me blunder about cause obviously I had been writing this as they had none of that stuff.

I was having so much trouble writing 14, just with thinking about 14, I was thinking I'd be forced to take a break from this fic and work on something else. I've found myself thinking about the bridal candidate fic, cause this fic's Allura, has the kind of attitude, personality that would suit well the bridal candidate fic Allura too! So this fic might have inadvertently helped me with that one! But I'm still working on this one for the foreseeable future. Just I was really stuck for a while here and stressing!

Next chapter we check in on Ryder and Alexandria. I was debating what POV for it to be, but I think it HAS to be a Ryder, unless it runs long. Right now my plans is some Ryder Alexandria shenanigans, then Ryder gets dragged off to talk to Lotor. There's also gonna be another POV or two added, new voices I mean, but I'll leave that a surprise until I get to that part. XD And boy is it hard to keep from spoiling.

Still so much to do...and I already have little things mentioned in the actual story, that are like...plot threads that intend to blossom eventually. Some soon, some much later. But it's time I end this author's note before it becomes as long as the chapter! XD

-Michelle

Siberian Lady, thank you! And don't worry, your english was fine. :) And yay, glad someone noticed the thing I am setting up with Cossack. It's so hard not to spoil...Cossacks due for some loving...haha though he's not outright looking for it! XD I have no plans for Cossack to die in this story...thank goodness! But well see how it goes...but really don't want him to die. But so much to do, so it'll be fun to see how the story twists and shapes up as I try to get it to stick to my plans at least a little. X_X I just hope I can handle writing so many couples. X_X And yes, Lotor is causing himself a world of future trouble with how he acts now. let's spank hiM! Thanks again!

Lady Katherine 29, I am oh dearing all over the place. I really did try to hold him back. It was tough too...cause I can think of some pretty gruesome things to do torture wise. *wonders what that says about me.* But hopefully this chapter wasn't quite so Go Lion like...I hope. The problem with Allura escaping is, she doesn't yet have everything she needs to do that. Part of it is she needs his ring. Originally I thought he'd let her have it to wander aorund the ship unmolested. Like he gifts it to her, cause he's ridicoulsy pleaseed with her. Now I'm wondering if she won't have to steal it. But she'd still have to at least know the kind of power it would give her (to travel freely) even if she didn't know at the time Lotor had it cause HE is the prince of Doom. So we'll see...I am trying to stick to my plans, but as I said above, rolling with the punches. see I've come to realize, i come up with plans for my stories, and those plans get screwed when i have to write the characters talking. They start saying things I didn't forsee when I made my notes, and well them I scramble, to try and keep my plans but not mess up the flow of the story. If that makes sense. So I am trying, but will see where this story takes me in terms of true romance for Lotor and Allura. I have something for much later in the fic that might be considered a game changer, that would tip the scales in Lotors favor over a rival for Allura...MIGHT being the key word. We shall see! Thanks for reading and giving me feedback about the situation! *hugs*


	15. Chapter 15

Ryder awoke with a groan, his head hurting, From the pounding of his temples, Ryder could tell it was no ordinary headache, but that awful kind of pain that came when one drank to excess. He almost groaned again, muttering under his breath, cursing Cossack's very name. Wondering how, why, what could have possibly made it seem like a good idea for him to drink with one who had made a name for himself as a bottomless pit where liquor was concerned.

The events preceding his heavy drinking didn't all come back to him at once. Ryder actually had one moment of peace, where he wasn't haunted with thoughts of HER. And then he heard the rustle of her dress, caught the faint scent of her hair, and it all came rushing back to him. And with those memories, his morning erection throbbed almost pointedly, as though reminding him he had yet to do anything about it.

Ryder groaned again, the sound even more exaggerated than the previous one. All his frustrations were in that sound, the weeks looming before him as Ryder wondered how long he would have to go without a woman tending to his sexual needs. He didn't once consider taking one of the other women captured, didn't once think to put in the time to seduce a more biddable female. He was simply too fixated on the priestess, needing, wanting her, and ready to do just about anything to have her.

Almost anything, Ryder reminded himself. There was a line he could not, would not cross. His own twisted sense of honor, what little there was left, wouldn't allow it. It was a strange moral to have, surrounded by so many rape minded comrades, but it was simply the way Ryder was. He wasn't any better or any worse than any of the other Drules, he could and did kill, steal, even blackmail and commit crimes on a universal scale. He just rather have a willing partner in his bed, a lover who wanted him back, who did not have fear and loathing in her eyes.

He was still a ways away from that. The priestess while not full of loathing, had carried fear in her eyes. Ryder had a mix of the other pirates' actions and his own drunken come on's to thank for that. He hadn't been the great seducer he was known to be, not last night, not full of drink and so desperate for her. He had been so intent on her, Ryder hadn't even taken into consideration the fact she had overheard at least some of the other women being raped. Her ears full of their screams, her imagination probably vivid with picturing it, Alexandria had not needed a drunk to manhandle her in any way.

Ryder groaned again, his loudest, most drawn out yet. This time it was pure embarrassment, Ryder mortified over how he had acted. He wanted to strike out, to punch something, to punch himself for his stupidity, for his callous behavior of the night before. For being a drunken, overly infatuated, lustful idiot.

And in the midst of his self admonishments, he heard the rustle of her clothing. Sensed more than saw her approach, the pleasing scent of her strengthening as Alexandria drew near. Part of him reacted on instinct, but another, just couldn't help himself where the priestess was concerned. For as her hand reached towards him, Ryder lashed out, his fingers closing around her slender wrist.

He heard her gasp, a loud, pronouncement of troubled sound. He felt more than saw her unease, the way she flinched and tried to jerk away. Ryder might have flinched as well, but for different reasons, cursing himself a fool for his heart's rejoicing at the simple pleasure it got from the act of touching her wrist.

It was too strong a reaction, too much pleasure for such a meaningless thing. It should have sent Ryder running from her, the man right to be wary. Instead in a fit of anger and rebellious defiance, he pulled on her wrist, jerking Alexandria down into the bed with him. She made the most delightful of sounds, his own cock jerking in response to that soft pitched squeal, Ryder flipping them so that the woman ended up beneath him.

He couldn't resist sinking his weight into her, letting her feel his erection against her belly, as he pinned her thoroughly in place. She had no room to do damage, no way to get a leg up and kick. The best she could do was squirm, and that wriggle like movement made Ryder want to roll his eyes back and moan. Somehow he controlled himself, barely, speaking in rasping tones. He couldn't quite hide his excitement, his voice coming out harsh in response.

"Don't you know better than to sneak up on a Drule soldier's bed?" He almost bit his lip, feeling a little too ecstatic in response to her squirming, and the flash of angry jade eyes lifting to glare at him. "Especially when that Drule is IN it?"

"Believe me, it is a mistake I won't be repeating." Alexandria informed him, but her tone was too heated to maintain the chill she tried to give him. Another almost violent struggle, the woman trying uselessly to buck Ryder off of her.

This time Ryder didn't hold back the moan, staring down at her through hooded eyes. "Careful..." He warned her through a throaty purr. "You'll cause me to make a mess all over your pretty dress."

A wide eyed look followed a poignant pause, the priestess needing a few seconds to get his meaning. And once she did understand, the most fetching of blushes colored her face, Alexandria's pale skin turning a faint rose colored hue.

"Do get off of me." She said, her teeth clenching. "Please."

Ryder froze, inwardly cursing, hating that she had spoken such a request. A request that could in no way be misunderstood, a request that by all rights, Ryder should respect if only because he had his own loose code of morals where women and sex were concerned. But it became difficult to honor them, to think, let alone do the right thing, when the priestess was right here, right under him, right when he was rock hard. Not when her infernal, wonderful, wriggling was making him one step closer to insane with desire, Ryder that much closer to losing his sense of right from wrong, and leaving him with the knowledge that he did not want to move off her at all.

The fact that he didn't want to move was exactly the reason he should, and yet he remained rooted in the spot, holding her down. Staring at her, trying to pretend he wasn't affected by her nearness, or the fact that she continued to squirm despite his earlier warnings about the risk to her dress' front. A risk that was fast approaching reality, Ryder focusing on his breathing, trying to keep from grinding in time to her struggles. It was only the fact that he didn't want to come like this, soiling her dress like some inexperienced boy and knowing she affected him too strongly for Ryder to ever last long enough for a proper fucking without her first taking the edge off in some other way, that stopped him from spilling then and there.

His teeth clenched behind closed lips, Ryder knowing the idea of sex of any kind with this woman was still just a fantasy. It would take real work to get to the point where she would lay willingly with him, where the priestess would squirm not because she attempted to free herself, but because she couldn't help but writhe and lash out in pure pleasure beneath him.

Holding himself absolutely still and fighting not to close his eyes and just enjoy the feel of Alexandria's struggles against him, Ryder took a deep breath. It was a breath that shuddered it's way out of him, as harsh sounding as his voice had been reduced to. It betrayed the struggle within him, the surges of lust the priestess herself caused that nearly threatened to overwhelm Ryder's last shred of sanity. She was wise enough to understand that sound, going still beneath him save for the rise and fall of her magnificent chest. He tried not to focus on the heaving of her bosom, instead looking her square in the eye as he opened his mouth to speak.

"What mischief were you plotting?" She looked confused by that question, Ryder choosing to elaborate with more questions. "What did you intend to do to me? Clobber me over the head? Suffocate me with a pillow? Strangle me with my belt? Hmmm?"

She looked suitably horrified by the bloodthirsty suggestions, but then there had been little doubt in Ryder's mind that she hadn't approached his bed with the intent to kill him. He didn't know her YET, but he knew of her type. Dainty, downright delicate, the only true harm she would seek to do was if someone threatened her in some manner. A sleeping man, even a Drule, hardly offered her any threat, regardless of what she might have imagined would have happened after that man had awakened.

"I would never..." She huffed out, her indignation eating away that horrified look in her eyes. "Despite what you may think, the thought never even crossed my mind to harm you."

"You didn't think twice last night..." Ryder reminded her.

"That...that was different!" She retorted. "You were awake and pawing at me. You...I thought...  
That rosy color was back in her cheeks, her expression one of pure dismay. "I was pretty sure you were going to force yourself on me..."

"I don't have to rape a woman to get what I want from her." Ryder replied, noting her troubled look didn't leave her.

"Yes, I'm sure you are used to women just falling into line for you." Alexandria muttered crossly. "But I did not approach your bed with the intent to harm you or to bed you. I was acting out of concern."

"Concern?" A brow lifted, Ryder almost confused. "Whatever for?"

"You...you were MOANING." Alexandria told him, in tones that strongly stated she regretted her earlier concern. "I thought you were ill..."

"And you what? Thought you would nurse me back to health?" Ryder grinned, imagining her in a short skirted nurse's uniform. It was quite a titillating thought, his cock seeming to twitch in response, the fantasy a million times better than the dismal reality of the ships' all male medical staff.

The priestess' cheeks were really red now. "Obviously I was wrong." She said, her voice holding ice to it. "You are not suffering. There is nothing wrong with you physically..."

"Strong as robeast, and as healthy as a Drule soldier in his prime can be." Ryder said cheerfully.

"So my concern is wasted..."

"I wouldn't say that..." Ryder said quickly. "I feel awfully hot when I look at you." He instantly regretted saying something so corny, so Cossack like, when the priestess gave him a cold, disapproving look back in response.

"Was this all an act?" Her tone was suspicious, Alexandria's eyes trained on Ryder's face. "Was the moaning just a lure to get me near?"

"No..." Now he shifted, the slightest of movements that set off tingles racing through his erection. "I'm a bit hung over..." Ryder wasn't about to admit that most of his moaning had been born out of embarrassment, out of mortification over the memories he had had from his behavior of the night before.

"It sounded like more than a bit to me." She huffed in reply, looking cross.

"Simply a case of a man's bark being worse than his bite." Ryder answered smoothly enough. "But I thank you for your concern, if that is all you intended when you approached my bed."

"Are you purposefully baiting me?" Alexandria demanded, her pearl white teeth flashing as she spoke. "What other intentions could I possibly have had, save to check on a man I thought ill?" She gave him her stoniest glare in response to the downright wicked smirk Ryder flashed her, Alexandria all but hissing in a low tone voice. "You think too highly of yourself to imagine any other excuse as to why I would come to your bed for...for..." Here she stumbled on the word, her cheeks flushed once more. "For intimacy."

"I am supremely confidant. Of myself, and of what will happen between us." Ryder told her point blank, his voice nonchalant.

"Then how disappointed you must be..." Alexandria quickly interrupted him, her tone syrupy sweet. "To know this moment is all the sex we will ever have between us."

"This?" She looked astonished when he let out a hearty laugh. "This doesn't come close to sex. This moment, while titillating at best, is hardly satisfying for either of us, wouldn't you say?" The flattening of her lips in a thin, disapproving line was the signal the priestess would say nothing at all. "And it's damn disappointing as far as foreplay goes."

That disapproving look remained, his priestess just staring at him as though determined not to react any further to him. It only drove Ryder to say more, to do more, in an attempt to shock her, make her blush, maybe break that determined disapproval of hers.

"You do know what foreplay is, don't you love?" Ryder asked her, unable to keep the wicked gleam from his eyes. Especially in response to the quick way she blinked, all in effort to hide her own confusion.

"I am well aware of what goes on between a man and woman behind closed doors." Alexandria answered stiffly. "What is done in the dark when no other is around."

"The dark is for those wicked deeds no one wants seen."

"And sex ISN'T wicked?" She asked.

"Oh I don't deny it. It can be. Very much so." His own fangs flashed, Ryder giving her his patented sexy smirk that had been known to devastate women, make them swoon and shiver where they stood. Panties had dropped for just a glimmer of that smug smile, and Ryder practically smoldered with intensity, giving Alexandria the full effect of his charm.

Interesting enough, she wasn't completely unaffected. Her eyes widened slightly, her blush seeming to spread even to the tips of her pointed ears. Ryder very much wanted to brush his lips over one of those pink points, wanted to see how badly she'd shake in reaction, if she was anywhere as sensitive as a Drule.

"Wicked but also invigorating. Pleasurable, relaxing, people come together to do it for many kinds of reasons. And few if any of those are wrong."

"But some are..." She murmured, and Ryder nodded.

"Some are." He agreed out loud. "Greed, manipulation, domination, humiliation, revenge...in the wrong hands, sex can be a devastating a weapon as it is a powerful force for bonding a pair together. You must remember sweet Alexandria...sex itself isn't wicked...it's the people and how they choose to use it, that are."

She shivered as though cold, staring at him. Ryder stared back, wondering what Alexandria was thinking, wondering what assessment she was making of him.

"You're no saint." She finally said. "But you're also not a complete sinner."

"I know a great many that would argue against that point!" Ryder chuckled.

"I'm not saying you haven't done bad things...but...unlike your...friends, you haven't completely forced yourself on me. I'll remember that."

"You do that." Ryder said, more than a bit bemused by her.

"Now, if you would be gentleman enough as to get off of me...?" She said, trying to shift to the side. Ryder let out a loud bark of laughter, shaking on top of her. She frowned up at him, Ryder having to shake his head several times before he could speak.

"I am even less a gentleman than I am a saint. But all right...I've teased you enough." And himself, Ryder thought, rolling to the side of her. His whole being protested immediately, Ryder missing the feel of being pressed up against her. His erection remained, throbbing painfully, Ryder knowing he had to do something about it or risk worse hurt before it could calm itself down. And he was really having no choice, as unappealing as it was.

"I'm going to take a quick shower." Ryder announced, getting off the bed. Alexandria was sitting up, as far on the other side as she could get and attempting to not be obvious about it. "After I'll get us some grub."

"All right." She inclined her head in a nod, but kept her gaze well above his waist. In fact she avoided looking at even his chest, focuses somewhere more over his left shoulder.

"Try to keep out of trouble for a few minutes." Ryder added, but it was more an absentminded aside than a true concern. He was already hurrying into his private bathroom, his walk stiff in more ways than one.

To Be Continued...

I want to apologize for the long wait between this chapter and the last. Things have been hectic, my sleep has been real messed up, my legs have been bothering me a lot so my concentration has been shot dealing with several different things. And then there was this chapter itself...I worked on it for two maybe three weeks? I was having so much trouble! Ryder didn't want to behave, or he would say one thing, then the next thing you know, something written, would completely contradict an earlier thing written. And then the tangents! OMG! I kept writing these stupid conversations that sucked and had to be trashed. T_T

One of them was after she said she knows what goes on behind closed doors in the dark, the first attempt led to them talking about the sex industry in this universe, how sex is so casual and so highly marketed, that it's not a sacred thing anymore...I quickly trashed those paragraphs cause it was taking me in a direction I didn't want to explore for these characters at all.

Also...was trying to make clear, Ryder was a drunken lecher the other night (Chapter) but also when he sees her, is near Alexandria, he starts having trouble behaving and thinking...so he acts stupid...but not as bad as drunken lecher I hope.

I had wanted this chapter to be longer...I had considered actually writing out Ryder masturbating to thoughts of her in the shower...but ultimately decided I had a good ending point for the chapter. There will be an Alexandria POV sooner or later, but unfortunately I think it HAS to still be a Ryder POV next chapter, cause my intention is for their meal to be interrupted as he gets summoned to meet with Lotor. So my intention is the first half of the chapter would be Alexandria Ryder, then second half would hopefully be a Lotor Ryder meeting. Which is why I have to keep it a Ryder POV. Then I have to decide...I thought after these chapters it would be a check in with someone else, but I may have to do a Lotor Allura check in first. We shall see.

Really hoping the next chapter won't take weeks to write. The annoying thing is, whenever I am writing, I always have all these thoughts for the characters I am not working on at the moment. But when I get to their part of the story, I get freaking stuck. So damn annoying and frustrating!

But shutting up now...

-Michelle


	16. Chapter 16

The cold water swirled around the drain, shampoo and soap mixed together, along with the wasted remains of the climax Ryder had stroked out of himself. The dull roar of his shower competed with his harsh breathing, Ryder leaning against the cool tile, staring down at the water. A grimace was on his face, the Drule not at all satisfied with what he had just done.

Ryder HATED using his hand. Hated that it had become such a necessity, hated that there was no doubt that in the coming days, weeks, this act would be repeated. All because there was no way he could be around the priestess, and not keep from reacting, not keep from experiencing that mind numbing, body ruining arousal. It was insane, just looking-hell just thinking about her, was enough to stir a reaction,. A reaction that only grew ten times more powerful when he was actively touching her. Smelling her, holding her, pressing against her.

With a clench of his jaw, Ryder abruptly put a halt to that particular line of thought. He didn't want to risk the memory of what had happened just minutes ago in his bed causing another reaction in him, didn't want to dwell on how soft and pleasant she had felt underneath him, how good her hair had smelled. Didn't want to consider she had enchanted him, that he was growing intoxicated just by having her near. It was too troubling, almost too bothersome, this attraction he felt for her.

Ryder had had other women in his life. Drule and human, blonde, brunette, even that one memorable red head who had set out to seduce the pirate in her tavern, only to find herself charmed inside, her ankles up by her head. He's had slender women, voluptuous females, ladies of all shapes and sizes. He's run the spectrum of color, from the Drule shades of blue, purple and green, to the humans more calming tans and browns. He's seen caramel colored skin, and skin with flecks of gold to them. He's no stranger to feeling lust at first sight, to experiencing a strong wanting of a female. But never had he felt this out of control, and never over some virgin!

Ryder was used to bold, strong women. Dominant types who liked to give as good as they got, and were blatant in their appreciation of him. He wasn't interested in shy maidens who peeked out him from underneath lowered lashes, or stared at him in wide eyed fascination. Who blushed constantly, and didn't know how to flirt back. He wanted, appreciated aggression in his females, preferred a woman who knew her way around a man's body both in and out of bed. He didn't want to play teacher, and the few virgins he had had in the past had proven more troublesome than worth it.

Virgins. His lips curled in a scowl then, Ryder still leaning against the shower's wall. They never knew where to touch, where to put their hands, how to move their bodies. They kicked up a fuss and put meaning on act that was about pleasure not love, and worse of all they cried and hurt from the pain of that first penetration. Ryder had learned he could do without the tears, the fuss, the self delusions of love, and a virgins' expectations of what the act of sex meant. The tears and tantrums that followed when they realized Ryder WASN'T in love with them, was always worse than the sex that had preceded that realization.

All of this had been enough to quickly teach Ryder to stay away from sheltered, virginal females. You couldn't get more sheltered than a priestess, some holy woman that by all rights was never meant to know a man's body. Certainly Alexandria had gotten an education, more exposure than she had ever expected, probably ever wanted, when Ryder had pressed on top of her, naked as can be, and sporting a full blown erection that throbbed with a life and vitality all it's own.

And there was the rub. Just a brief second of recollection, and his sanity receded, all his thoughts and views about why virgins were bad, why he wasn't about to waste his time with another, all but forgotten in the face of that strong surge of lusting.

It had to be the body, Ryder decided. Not only beautiful, Alexandria had a sinfully delicious body. Ample curves, the kind many would kill for, either to have, or to hold, she didn't look like a holy woman should. Not with those large breasts, breasts he wasn't going to imagine cupping, nor was he going to wonder about the color of her nipples, or how sweet they would taste to his tongue.

It wasn't just the breasts, though most men would be blinded by that alone. She had an hourglass kind of figure, shapely hips, a finely rounded ass. And her manner of dress, while simple in design, similar in style to the gowns the other captured priestesses had worn, couldn't quite contain her. The material simply didn't sit right on her chest, the fabric straining, attempting a monumental task to keep her breasts covered and modesty intact.

Ryder made a fist, bemoaning the fact that his priestess looked so good even fully dressed. Wondering why she couldn't have been from some holy sect that insisted on keeping it's women fully covered, down to veils over their hair and faces, and baggy burkas on their bodies. It just wasn't right, wasn't fair, to parade a woman like that past a man, and then tell him she was off limits to his touch.

Alexandria's life as a priestess, her status as a holy woman, was the only thing that had kept her out of the bed of another man. A woman that looked like that? She wouldn't have remained virgin long, once she came of official age, and there were some sly enough to try even sooner than that. The Gods must be laughing, to put such a temptation, such a sweet morsel in the universe, and then make her untouchable. The ultimate temptation, the ultimate test to fail, and Ryder knew he would happily rot in one of the many Hells that supposedly existed for the chance to experience Alexandria completely.

Not that he hadn't sinned enough BEFORE encountering the priestess. A murdering, thieving, wenching pirate, he was damned already. But he wouldn't use that as an excuse, wouldn't use it as a reason to just take what he wanted from her. Even if his body was raging out of control, and that damning blast of cold water was doing little to calm him save to leave him shaking as his teeth rattled from the chill.

Minutes later he would give up on his shower, knowing he could stand for an eternity under the cold spray and it would do nothing to cool the fires that heated his very blood. He'd grumble and curse under his breath, rattling about loudly in the bathroom, stomping his feet, and slamming shut doors. He'd barely bother to do more than towel off, tying a clean one around his waist, and not at all bothering with his hair, content to let it air dry on it's own.

His mood now foul, he slammed open the door to the bedroom, the action doing little to make him feel better and making the priestess startle in fright. She leaped up from her seat in a chair, wide eyed and staring at him, actually looking at his body for one all too brief moment, before she fixed her gaze to a spot just over his shoulder. It was then that Ryder realized he had posed himself to look even more impressive than usual, waiting for some kind of reaction, some shred of proof that she too was affected, that she was tempted in turn. He didn't get it, Alexandria schooling her face to hide what she was feeling, what she might be thinking to see him clad in nothing but a short towel, shoulders dotted with drops from his wet hair.

Keenly disappointed, and not liking it one bit, Ryder still strived for a charitable tone. "You must be starving by now." He said to her. "I know I am."

A small nod of her head, the only acknowledgement he got from her. His jaw clenched in response, Ryder turning toward the wall mounted com unit. He was about to dial down to the ship's kitchen, when she called out a question to him.

"How are you feeling?" He just looked at her, an eyebrow arched in silent question. Most women-most virgins, would have blushed in response, but somehow Alexandria maintain her natural pale coloring. "Does your hang over still bother you?"

His head still hurt, but it seemed minimal compared to what was truly troubling him. The priestess and the infernal attraction he felt to her. "I'll manage." Ryder said out loud. He saw her frown, as though the thought of his pain really bothered her. "It's the least I deserve." Ryder added, but couldn't force out even a rueful chuckle. "I should have known better than to try to out drink Cossack the Terrible."

He turned back to the com unit, dialing down to the kitchen. The youngest of the pirates, Smythe was on duty there, just one of the few responsibilities entrusted to the boy. The young Drule had worked kitchen duty before, and knew not to waste Ryder's time on needless chit chat. They got right to the point, Ryder ordering a cold breakfast that could be delivered within minutes of the call.

The call was not without incident. In the middle of it, Alexandria spoke up, suggesting a few things she would like to see delivered to the room. It was predominantly herbs, many of which could be found in the cook's kitchen. Surprised but seeing no harm to it, Ryder allowed them to be ordered as well, then once finished turn to her with a question in her eyes.

"They are for your hangover." She said, actually looking at him and not the wall behind him. "A remedy for what ails you."

He didn't say anything immediately, knowing his true sickness was something no herb alone could cure. "And you have experience with mixing hangover cures?" He couldn't hide the doubt from his tone, Ryder sucking in a shocked breath at the faint, half smile she gave him.

"As a matter of fact I do."

Already beautiful, how much more stunning would this raven haired priestess be were she to really smile at him? He'd be blinded, dazzled by the glow for sure. As it was, he was almost to stunned by the half almost smile that he almost didn't register her words. "You do?" At her nod, Ryder snorted, amused. "And I suppose the priests and priestess at your temple are prone to heavy drinking?"

"Not quite..." She had stopped smiling. "But many of the patrons who attend our ceremonies, and seek counsel with us, well let us just say there are many women who are tired of their husband's heavy boozing getting in the way of their work come mornings."

"I can just imagine." Ryder murmured, knowing he wouldn't want to do much if any work with the way he had felt when he had first woken up this morning, all hung over and hurting.

"It won't be as effective a dose as it would have been had I had access to my garden." continued Alexandria. "But then I don't expect a ship full of pirates to have access to some of the rarer medicines that can be grown on Simestia."

"Simestia...is that where you're from?" Ryder asked. She nodded, but offered no more information about that world. "And you have a garden there?"

"More than just a garden, I have a home." She told him. But she didn't start demanding he return her there at once. He liked that, thinking Alexandria a realist who knew the odds of her seeing her home world of Simestia again were slim at best.

"Medicines don't make for very pretty plants." Ryder said out loud.

"I don't grow them for looks, but for what they can do for me." She explained. "I am a healer. I help take care of the many sick who come to the temple for aid and relief from what ails them."

She was not only beautiful and kindhearted, but an angel of mercy laying healing hands on any who sought her help. Even a wretch like him, Ryder thinking her talents wasted on easing a hangover he rightly deserved.

Alexandria was watching him, her jade colored eyes intent on his face. Not for the first time, he wondered what he was going to do with her, and tried to ignore the lust that made sex the most obvious answer.

"Smythe should be here soon with the food." Ryder said, his voice sounding gruff even to himself. "I better get dressed before that happens." He hurried into his closest, grabbing at and pulling on the first clothes he could find. By the time he had buttoned his shirt up half way, Smythe was knocking at the door, cold meal in hand.

"Thanks." Ryder said curtly, taking the tray, and all but slamming the door in the young Drule's face. It happened fast enough that Smythe probably hadn't even gotten a good look at the priestess, Ryder feeling far too possessive of her to suffer even an innocent leer her way from another.

She joined him at the small table, watching as he uncovered the tray, and laid out the food. But she didn't reach for the plate he made for her, instead taking the small soup bowl, and fling it with the herbs she had requested. Alexandria would crush and mix the herbs into a thin paste, then add it to a glass of water, which clouded over in color.

"Here, drink this." She said, handing him the glass. "Within a few minutes, the worst of your symptoms will be gone."

He took it from her without word, Ryder making a face at the unappealing scent the paste flavored water made. He all but held his breath as he swallowed down the drink in one gulp, and his expression must have been comical for the priestess' eyes practically danced with her amusement.

"Crap but that tasted horrible." Ryder complained out loud.

"Medicine usually does." She informed him. "In fact, I find the worse it tastes, the more effective the medicine tends to be."

"Then no wonder my hangover will be gone in a few minutes."

"Not gone entirely." she corrected him, the amused look still in her eyes. Ryder found himself wondering what she would look like if she were to laugh, if her face was lit up in pure appreciation of a joke between friends. "Although I am surprised you drank it all, and without any coaxing on my part. After all, did you not fear that there was a chance I was poisoning you?"

"Not at all." She looked surprised at that, to which Ryder chuckled and replied. "I knew if it was in cook's kitchen, there was little chance of these herbs being poisonous."

"So it wasn't a matter of trusting me, but trusting in the herbs..." Alexandria noted, and took a seat at the table. Ryder followed suit, somehow managing not to insist the woman be seated on his lap for this meal.

"It's not easy to trust a woman you helped take captive." Ryder pointed out.

"Is that why you were so quick to assume I was coming to your bed to hurt you?" Alexandria asked. He nodded, and she frowned. "But to suffocate you with your own pillow? Or to bludgeon you with something?"

"How else would you do it?"

"I wouldn't do it at all!" She protested.

"Then you are better behaved than some of the other women that have been taken captive by the captain and us pirates." Ryder said, and her eyes took on a horrified look.

"You mean to say those were real examples?!"

"Didn't happen to me personally." Ryder quickly soothed her. "Always been able to seduce a woman into happily being my bed mate. But some of the other pirates...well...you HEARD how they are." She shuddered in response, which made Ryder want to put an arm around her in comfort. But somehow he resisted that impulse, picking up his fork to eat in silence.

The priestess fidgeted with the food on her plate, and though she had to be starving, having not eaten since before her ship had been raided, she barely took more than a few bites of her meal. Ryder began to wonder if he really would have to take her on his lap, and coax her into eating from his hand, when Alexandria broke the silence.

"I..." The hesitation combined with her fidgeting was enough to alert Ryder to the fact he wasn't about to like anything she was about to say. "I have a favor to ask."

Ryder chewed a little more, before setting down his fork to give a one word response. "Oh?"

She seemed to fidget worse, but at least she looked him in the eyes. "Y...yes. It's about the other women...the captives..."

"You're not about to ask me something impossible, like to let them all go, are you?" Ryder demanded.

"Of course not! I am not that foolish!" Her words reassured him of that, Alexandria seeming to gain more strength, and to lose her initial hesitation. "I know there is little I can do about that. But I can help them in other ways. Please...let me tend to them. Let me and the other priestess speak with them, soothe them."

"Are they healers too?"

"Not of the body, but of the soul. They might be able to give comfort of the mind, or at least spiritual comfort in speaking with the women who have been raped."

Ryder was really not liking this, and it showed on his face.

"Oh please!" begged Alexandria. "Let me do this...let me do something to comfort and help those women after the violence of last night."

"We have a more than competent medical staff on board."

"Are any of them women?" Alexandria asked, then answered for him. "No, I didn't think so. Not with all the violence and raping going on. Please...the women, after they've been hurt so, the last thing they will want is to be examined by a male doctor. Allow me the chance to at least ease them in this way..."

He didn't bother to tell Alexandria that some of those doctors had more than likely participated in the rapings. Every Drule on board this ship pulled double duty, even the medical staff went on raids, looting, pillaging, raping. Hell, even the head cook who was dangerous enough with a butcher knife, was downright lethal with a sword. Even young Smythe was learning, the boy having all the makings of becoming a fine pirate.

"Please." Alexandria said, her hand touching his arm. Ryder seemed to freeze into a statue at that touch of hers, staring at her as she leaned towards him. Her eyes were earnest, urgent, the woman practically begging. "Please...I...I would do anything you asked of me, if you would just let me do this..."

Over a dozen demands came to mind, all his lusts and desires wanting to lash out and attach themselves to her. She wasn't just kind, beautiful, compassionate, she was self sacrificing if it meant it would help others. She would give herself over to Ryder's lusts, all on the off chance she could somehow soothe the women raped, and all he had to do was say yes, and he would have her right where he wanted her, right now, right on this table, then on the floor, on the bed, in the shower, than on the bed again.

Damn him, but he was getting another erection, getting excited at what looked to be a reality. He opened his mouth to answer her, and it came out a question. "Anything?"

She didn't blink, didn't look away, though her eyes wore a distressed look to them. "Anything." She stressed heavily, and Ryder wanted to kiss her.

"All right." He said, but Alexandria didn't close her eyes in relief. She just watched him, wary as though he was a snake poised to strike at any moment. "Then yes...I'll allow this."

"Thank you." She said, giving his arm a soft squeeze. He almost growled then, the urge to push her down and have her body squeeze his dick inside it, almost too strong to resist. "When...?"

"Soon." He managed, controlling himself. "It will be under my supervision. I'm not about to allow you to wander the ship alone. You're too tasty a morsel for another not to accost you."

Alexandria didn't try to repress the shudder his words caused in her. "And our deal?" He gave her points for asking, for being so brave to want to know what sort of depravity he would require of her. "What would you have me do in return for this?"

Fighting the visions in his head, of her, naked on his bed, kneeling on the floor before him, even spread out for his mouth's exploration, Ryder growled. It was an involuntary sound, Ryder sick with lust, and knowing he was about to be very stupid.

"Eat something." He inwardly groaned, thinking himself not only stupid, but insane. Tossing away the opportunity to instead request her to do something so simple, so innocent as eat a meal.

"What?"

"You heard me." It came out gruff, his displeasure with himself making him sound discontented. "I want you to eat something. You'll waste away if you keep picking at your meal like that, and then how will you help treat the captive women?"

"I...you're right." But she didn't immediately pick up her fork. "But...I thought...you...I..."

"You thought wrong." grumbled Ryder. He shrugged off her hand, a clear sign of dismissal. Alexandria blinked at him, unable to hide her surprise. Ryder couldn't quite muffle his growl, angrily spearing his fork into the cold ham on his plate.

"Thank you." Alexandria whispered, looking at him one last time, relief and gratitude on her face. She then began to eat, and though she still fidgeted, she got down more than she had before.

To Be Continued...

Boy what a difference a chapter can make. Last chapter took me nearly three weeks to write, this one took me a little over THREE hours to write. I started it today after 9 pm, and finished it just before midnight. It just flowed so easily, even with the dinner break around 10, and I was able to write the whole thing almost non stop in one sitting. Hooray!

Okay...I didn't get to my Lotor Ryder scene...but I decided I had a good spot to end on...and decided I'll do the scene from a Lotor POV. It's meant to be a hopefully short scene, and then we can get to some Lotor Allura stuff.

But there is a downside to the writing process...for the next chapter I mean. And it's that...okay when I went to write the Ryder Alexandria stuff, I reread the story up to chapter eight or nine...that was three weeks ago at least. It's now been over a month since I read the whole story, and I feel I have to pause in writing to reread all the Lotor Allura chapters at least, before i can write the Lotor POV. I'm all grring cause I want to write now...and feel all annoyed that I have to put on the brakes to refresh my memory. ARGH!

But I am very pleased with how 16 came out. I personally think I did good! Whoo hoo!

-Michelle


	17. Chapter 17

Lotor was a mix of turbulent emotions, his blood stirred with the powerful feelings of excitement, arousal, and the self satisfaction that came from winning a victory over his opponent. That the victory was minor at best, did not matter to him, Lotor riding the high of finally knowing the woman's name, of finally being once step closer to solving the mystery of her origins.

"Alicia." He tested out the name out loud, his voice a soft purr, then wanted to laugh. Such a simple thing, and yet a name that held power within it's frame, Lotor wondering just where the name would lead him, and to who.

It didn't matter that offhand, Lotor could not think of any ruling class that had a lady Alicia in their family. The Denubian Galaxy was vast, one of the largest in the universe, with hundreds of planets spread across it's length. There was no possibly way for Lotor to know, to even hope of knowing, every single worlds' princesses, queens and empresses. Especially if Alicia was from a world that wasn't known for making waves, a world that might be relatively isolated in comparison to it's more powerful neighbors.

He looked forward to finding out more, to finding out just which world she came from, and just how rich and titled his pretty pet truly was. More than that, he looked forward to acquiring the ransom he would net in exchange for Alicia being returned to her family. To that money filling his coffers, to the things he would buy with it all. Alicia's ransom, just one of many, would go a long way to making a dent in the money Lotor needed. The money he needed to successfully conquer an Empire. And when one fell, the other would follow, the assets gained being used to launch an all out assault on the survivors.

He hadn't yet decided which Empire he would target first. Which Empire looked the easiest of the two to tackle. It wasn't a decision Lotor would make today, the Drule too smug, too excited, his blood stirred with arousal and violent need. He needed to be out celebrating his little victory, Lotor hot and bothered by more than just the fact he had finally learned her name.

It was her own fault, his pretty little pet inadvertently goading him with her words, with the image that had sprang to mind when she had attempted to negotiate with him. Lotor had never been expecting the woman to offer herself up in place of her three coconspirators, and yet that was exactly what she had done, wanting to be the one strung up and tortured in their stead.

The woman, Alicia, hadn't known the true danger, thinking to endure the whip and anything else Lotor could throw at her. She had been expecting pain, to be hurt and bled, never realizing that the whip could do much more than that. That Lotor could do so much more, his own skill and expertise such, that he could easily change the lashing of a whip from pain to pleasure and back again. His pet, Alicia, was truly an innocent, naive of such things. But there had been no mistaking the heat in Lotor's eyes, the way he lit up with predatory excitement at her offer. Even an innocent like Alicia, had recognized the look for what it was, her own skin paling, the woman downright frightened. She surely thought Lotor depraved, probably imagining he got off on hurting women. She might even have become disappointed, to learn the look had nothing to do with the depravities she imagined, Lotor simply enjoying too much the arts of bondage and whip play.

If there was time before he had to exchange her for the ransom, perhaps Lotor WOULD introduce her to a less wholesome expression of sexual desire. There was something to be said about restraints, about tying a woman to his bed, rendering her helpless, her sight stolen by a blindfold. Forcing her to rely on senses other than her sight, making her feel a dozen times more intently the things he did to pleasure her and himself.

Already battling the excitement boiling in his blood, Lotor found his pants growing just a bit more snug. simply from imagining Alicia bound to his bed, her thighs spread, her body on display for his ardent inspection. He could lose himself in fantasies alone, and that was a troubling realization. Lotor was one who preferred to actually do, rather than just think about it, whether it be pleasuring a woman, or taking over a planet. A man of action, the fact that he could be happy, that he could actually waste his valuable time just thinking about what he wanted to do with the woman, troubled him. Because it meant the infatuation he grudgingly admitted to having over Alicia, was spiraling out of control, seeping into his thoughts more than Lotor wanted.

He wasn't sure what to do about it though. How to rid himself of this need, how to stop the thoughts and fantasies from coming to him unbidden. Fucking her wasn't doing the trick. After seven or so times, she should have been out of his system. He wasn't one to grow obsessed with a woman, easily prone to tiring of them once he had bedded them. Bored easily, Lotor kept the women in his bed on rotation, switching partners out as often as it suited him.

Lotor knew and accepted that it would be better for them all, once the woman Alicia was gone from his life. She was a distraction he did not want, a distraction his plans couldn't really afford. And even knowing that, Lotor's first instinct told him to go to her. To toss her down on the first convenient surface, and rut hard inside her. It took an inordinate amount of self control, not to give in, to remain seated in his office.

And still his desires raged out of control, the leather fabric of his trousers straining, pulling tight over his half formed erection. It nearly took all of his reserves of self control, Lotor refusing to waste a climax on his own hand. Refusing to leave, to get up and go to the woman in an uncharacteristic show of supreme need.

Lotor knew he needed to distract himself, needed to stop thinking about her, and the erotic visions that tormented his mind. Of the flashes that showed her trussed up with silk ribbons, his pet unable to move save for how he positioned her. Abruptly, Lotor shook his head no, frowning though no one was around to see it. He knew he had to do something to take his mind off of Alicia, and yet he didn't trust himself to handle any of the documents that were laid out before him on the table.

There was many, small, separate piles, his life divided into threes. There was his responsibilities as the crown prince of the Doom Empire, limited though those were. His father simply didn't trust him, Zarkon not wanting to allow Lotor the chance to do good, to do better than the King had ever done. Most of the work Zarkon foisted off on his son, were dealings with planets out on the very fringe of the Doom Empire, those worlds supposedly so isolated and abandoned, that whispers of Lotor's accomplishments would never make it to the heart of Zarkon's kingdom.

Lotor snorted, thinking Zarkon both smart and a fool. He was right not to trust his own son, but ever so stupid to think the worlds under Lotor's care, did not thrive and ally with him. Many of the soldiers who would fight in Lotor's army, they came from those distant worlds, so called undesirables eager to prove themselves, to make a name for themselves, to even gain the right to live in the heart of the Doom Empire.

A few good deeds, some smooth talking, and enough money, had done wonders for Lotor's own ambitions. Those ambitions had a pile of their own, papers detailing the expenses spent, and the money still needed before Lotor's army was ready to take on Doom and Demos. There was listings of every man and woman ready to fight, the amount of weapons and armor needed to outfit each soldier, along with how much it would cost.

He didn't just have his expenses in the pile, but whole plans written out. Battle schemes, and tactics ready to be tried against his enemies. Lotor had made a habit of studying both Doom and Demos' past battles, learning the preferred tactics employed by the commanders of those armies. Lotor had his own plans to break through their defense, to pulverize their own people, to take by brute force the empires he so desired.

He had files on the key members of the war that would happen. People who could be bribed, and people who needed to be taken care of before the fighting actually broke out. Spies were already planted in both Empires, sending him steady reports of their findings.

The pile dedicated to his ambitions, was his favorite. But there was a third, the one devoted to his life as a pirate. It was lucrative, this business of piracy, Lotor and his crew having made several lifetimes of fortunes in the course of three years. Of course his father and the rest of the Doom Empire had no idea just how fortunate the pirates had been, how rich they had gotten under Lotor's leadership. Lotor intended to keep it that way, falsifying documents, letting his father and those that would tax him, think the pirates were just barely getting by. His father would turn red if he had any inkling of the fortunes Lotor had amassed in so short a time.

The money and lifestyle of a pirate suited Lotor best, out of all his current hats. He'd trade it all in an instant to be supreme ruler of the Denubian Galaxy, merging both the Doom Empire and Demos into one unstoppable force. That time drew ever closer to happening, especially now with the Doom scientists' ultimate weapon in Lotor's hands. And yet he couldn't entirely feel elated, not when a blue eyed, blonde beauty continued to infest his every thought, leaving him feverish and tight skinned, Lotor drumming fingers on the surface of his desk.

There were reports laid across the desk, new estimates from his accountants, the Drules having begun their estimates of the worth of the items taken in the latest raid. They were definitely going to be rich, richer yet than they already were, even with that bitch who dared called herself the black market Queen, undercharging them the true value of their stock. But their options were limited so long as they wanted to keep under Zarkon's notice. It was just a damn pity that Merla held such a stranglehold on the black market.

Letting out a exasperated sigh, the drumming of his fingers intensifying, Lotor found some of his tension, easing back in response to the annoyance he felt at the thought of dealing once again with Merla. At least the ransoms would be all theirs, Merla unable to touch the profit the pirates made in trading back people to their families.

Still it would be good to lighten the ship of it's most recent hauls. Especially to rid himself of the woman who was fast becoming an obsession, Lotor swearing to himself that upon reaching the outpost, he would secloister himself with at least five women. All in an effort to forget Alicia, to forget the inexplicable, uncontrollable desire he felt for her.

But he wasn't at the outpost yet, and Alicia had yet to be ransomed. Lotor was stuck with her, knowing he wouldn't be able to help himself, would be unable to stay away long, or hand her over to another of his men in exchange for a different woman. He simply lusted too strongly for her, as evidenced by the fact not even thoughts of Merla could calm his erection down.

Another exasperated sigh, Lotor almost ready to accept the facts and go to her. Lotor knew he'd never get any work done otherwise, and he and his pirates deserved better than for their captain to be so distracted by a mere woman. A luscious, temptingly sweet morsel of a mere woman.

Lotor was about to rise from his seat, when a familiar knock sounded on his office's door. Lotor knew then that Ryder was finally awake, and answering his summons.

"Enter." Lotor called out, trying to push away thoughts of Alicia. It was difficult, especially when she was the topic he wanted to discuss with Ryder. But Lotor would try to keep from thinking about sex with her, and about the fun they could have exploring blindfolds and restraints. He'd attempt his best to be businesslike, to think only the things that had to do with discovering more about the woman in order to hurry her along her way to being ransomed off to her family.

The door opened, admitting Ryder to the room. The dark haired Drule didn't look happy, a tension to his body as he kicked the door close behind him. Lotor stared at him, but it didn't take much study to guess as to the reason behind Ryder's own troubles. Where Lotor had an excess of sex, albeit with the same woman, Ryder had had none. Lotor almost felt pity for the dark haired Drule, inwardly tsking at Ryder's foolishness in picking a holy woman for a bed mate.

Lotor kept from commenting on Ryder's unhappy face, sure his own expression was equally tense, though for different reasons.

"Ryder, so good of you to make the time."

"This better be damn urgent, Lotor." Ryder grumbled. "I was in the middle of something."

But it couldn't have been what Ryder really wanted to be in the middle of. If the dark haired Drule had been anywhere close to seducing the priestess, he would have been a whole lot angrier. Especially if Lotor's summon had pulled him off of her, before they had time to actually consummate their odd relationship.

"I'm sure you were." Lotor said out loud. "But you have duties, obligations to your captain and your crew that come before any woman."

"You don't have to remind me of that." snapped Ryder sullenly. "It was not I who spent the past night drinking and fucking."

Which was all the more reason for Ryder's frustration, Lotor thought to himself.

"Yes I heard." He said out loud. "You needn't have bothered. You know as well as I do, the crew works well enough together that they could handle any crisis that came up while you and I and Cossack were otherwise engaged."

"Maybe. maybe not." Was Ryder's grudging answer. "I won't feel better until we're out of Jacquol's territory."

"If the King and any of his allies were foolish enough to target us, they'd soon regret it." Lotor told him.

"You're putting too much stock on your father's weapon."

"MY weapon now." Lotor corrected immediately.

"It's still too new, too untried. It could fail at any moment."

"We don't know that for sure." Lotor retorted. "It's held up this long..."

"With that much energy inside it, it's bound to be unstable. Trikelite is far too powerful, a dozen times more risky than lazon when it comes to using it as energy for a weapon of that size and power."

"It'll hold." Lotor said confidently enough. "My father's scientists have spent a near decade working to perfect it's containment."

"But..."

"I did not call you here to discuss the pros and cons of using Doom's secret weapon." Lotor interrupted. "And I almost hope Jacquol would send some ships after us. It would give us a chance to use the weapon on something other than a flimsy pleasure yacht."

"That weapon is going to bring us nothing but trouble." Ryder almost grumbled it under his breath.

"Somehow I think you have bigger troubles to worry about." Was Lotor's own answer.

Ryder seemed to straighten completely, his eyes flashing with upset. "What's THAT supposed to mean?"

Lotor merely smiled, trying to placate him. "Nothing, really." He insisted. "But I do have a job for you, a very special task."

"And that is?"

"I need you to track down some information. To confirm the identity of a recent capture of ours."

"Sounds like simple procedure." Ryder pointed out. "Fact checking, and information procurement is a routine duty of mine, especially when it comes to preparing our ransom demands."

"This won't be as easy as the others you've dealt with in the past." Lotor answered. "We've only got a name to go on."

"It'll take me a few hours more, but I still don't see the problem."

"Even when all you have to go on, is a first name?" Lotor heard Ryder suck in a shocked breath, the pirate prince smiling mildly. "My little mouse was most reluctant to give me even that."

"Then persuade her some more, or give up on the idea of ransoming this mouse." Ryder snapped, then shook his head. "Lotor, this is insane. It's an unreasonable request, for you to expect me to find out who this person is, based on their first name alone. Do you have any idea how big this galaxy is? How many worlds and people on them there are?! It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, all but impossible."

"It will be difficult, I'll give you that." Lotor agreed. "But if anyone can do it, it will be you." Ryder frowned, but Lotor didn't let him get a word in edgewise, leaning back in his seat. "And I know exactly where you can start looking for clues."

"Oh?"

"This mouse and her companions, have to be registered in the yacht's passenger logs. If you can dig out that information..."

"Sure it's a start...but what if they gave false names?" Ryder shook his head. "It'd be easier to wait for the woman to give you more information, then attempt such an insane quest."

"She's stubborn." Lotor told him. "Bold and brave, almost foolishly so, she would prefer to be tortured than give up her secrets so easily. She inspires loyalty in her companions, the other three just as foolish when it comes to guarding the woman's secrets.

"How admirable." Ryder said dryly. "Of course you realize what this means."

Lotor nodded. "Something is going on. Something big if they all rather be tortured or turned into slaves."

"Their capture could prove very beneficial for us, beyond the expected ransoms to be had." Ryder mused thoughtfully. "So what is the mouse's name?"

"Alicia, or so she claims."

"Alicia." Ryder echoed, his brow furrowed as though he was already trying to place the name on someone important. "I'll get started on accessing the yacht's records. Might not find out much, but I'll be able to trace the place they boarded the ship from. There's bound to be some kind of trail to follow, something that tells us where they originally came from."

"In the meantime, I'll work things from my end, to see what I can find out." Lotor said. "You never know what betraying things might be said in the heat of the moment."

"Yeah, you do that." Ryder said. "But you have to understand. This isn't going to be a quick success. It'll take time to get anywhere. I mean, even if I was to have the Denubian's data base bring up every single Alicia out there, it will take time for my programs to match up her face to the name."

"Just do what you can. And talk to Cossack." Lotor added. "He should still have the remains of the uniform Alicia had been wearing." He snorted then, dim amusement in that sound. "She and her friends actually thought to disguise themselves as maids."

"I might be able to script a program to research the different types of uniforms, to see just who they were pretending to work for." But Ryder sounded doubtful. "It would take time though, almost as much time as pulling out every registered Alicia out of the Denubian's data base."

"Do it." Lotor commanded.

"All right...but I have to ask you one thing." Ryder said. "Why go to all this trouble? Why not let the weeks pass by and work on breaking down this Alicia's resistance that way? You'd probably get the answers a lot quicker, than the methods I am being forced to employ in this special case."

Lotor did not blink, did not so much as fidget, staring calmly at Ryder. He was glad the desk was in front of him, hiding the erection tenting his pants from Ryder's sight.

"You know I cannot tolerate when secrets are kept from me." He said out loud.

"Strange..." Ryder muttered. "I get the feeling it's more than that."

"Ryder." Lotor growled out his name.

"Fine, I won't push...for now. But you've given me a lot of time consuming work." He complained.

This time Lotor did smirk, though he managed to keep the laughter out of his voice. "It'll give you something to do, rather than focus on the fact you have no woman to warm your bed."

"I HAVE a woman." Ryder growled, more annoyed than he had previously been since entering Lotor's office.

"A virtuous holy woman at that." Lotor retorted, still smirking. "We both know she's not going to do anything with you. At least, not willingly. Or has your stance on force changed since last we spoke?"

Ryder practically glared daggers at Lotor in response, the prince actually laughing this time. "Oh do calm down, friend. I'm simply amazed you chose such trouble for your bed. Three weeks is quite a long time to go without a woman's comfort, especially when you have such a tempting morsel near you on a day to day basis."

Ryder actually grit his teeth together. "I'll manage."

"For your sanity's sake, I hope you will." Lotor retorted. "But don't let your holy woman drive you to distraction too badly. Not until after you find out what I need, about Alicia."

"Yeah, yeah." Ryder waved him off. "I'm on it."

And that seemed to be that, Ryder's mood such that the dark haired Drule was in no way interested in prolonging a conversation with his friend and captain. Lotor watched Ryder leave, inwardly tsking to himself. Wondering what would happened between the Drule and the priestess, wondering how long it would take before the rest of the crew decided to take bets on the outcome, not to mention tease and torment Ryder something awful about his current situation.

But even wondering about his friend, wasn't enough to distract Lotor from thoughts about Alicia. Especially now that Ryder was gone, Lotor left alone to wallow in fantasies. But fantasies were never enough, the pirate prince rising. He knew he shouldn't go to her, that he was like an addict seeking the next fix from her body. But at the same time he reasoned he had held off long enough. That he had done well in avoiding Alicia this long. Lotor might even be lying to himself, telling himself that this time it would be different. That this time when he embraced her, he would finally sate himself of this need he had for her, and be able to move on to the next sexual conquest. Even to himself, that lie wasn't convincing enough, Lotor trying not to run the distance to his private cabin.

To Be Continued...

Well this moments ended up taking up much more space to write out than I had anticipated. Thought Ryder and Lotor's scene would be the first half, and the second half would be a Lotor Allura moment. So yeah...didn't get anywhere near where I thought the chapter was gonna end. But hopefully for next chapter which I am both looking forward to and dreading at the same time, we'll get the story to the part I expected it to be at for this chapter. It'll probably still be a Lotor point of view, since I really envisioned this stuff from his view point.

This chapter...well most of the delay was rereading the story and dealing with a migraine that held me back for about a day. Then the first attempt at starting the chapter, well it was okay, but the next day I realized it wasn't good enough, that it didn't fit my vision exactly. SO I trashed those paragraphs and started over from scratch. It only took me a few hours once I started over, to get this chapter written. This much more heated (As in the words of my friend Angel) chapter in terms of Lotor's mind set and thoughts!

I'm also trying not to let myself become full of doubts, cause when I do, the fic gets stalled. So all in all, I am very pleased with this chapter!

-Michelle

Lady Katherine 29, thanks! Glad you felt that way about 16. I was (Still am) pretty pleased with it. Especially since it proved so much easier to write than 15 which was insanely difficult in how I kept writing dumb cnversations and what not, and sturggled with it for about three weeks time. But 16 and 17 both proved easier to write...much easier, so I am really in a good mood about that!

Yes, Ryder is having problems...he's got it bad. He's so gonna be struggling with it, and then issues of jealousy and possessiveness. It hasn't happened yet, just a brief mention, but I imagine the other crew members will be gambling over his life love, plus I have this idea that involves the ship's medical staff getting food poisoning, so the priestesses get to play nurse instead under Alexandria's leadership. Such a spoiler that just was...but it'll be a fun bit to see Ryder losing it in terms of jealousy cause I imagined a lot of pirates pretending to be sick, so as to go visit Alexandria and the other priestesses. Ha ha! XD

It's been a bit of a difficulty, cause the Drule males are such alphas. You know, strong dominant types, so trying to keep Ryder and Lotor from being exactly the same is tough. But I don't want the relationships on this ship to all be exact clones of each other. So it's something I have to work hard at. Hope I'm up to the challenge long term. X_X

The escaping and Lotor and Allura. Well the escaping, it's something I have that won't happen until they reach the outpost where Merla is. There's several steps needed to be completed for Allura to escape. She's started at one, by destroying Lotor's clothes. Spoiler, but he is gonna order her to sew and repair his clothes, and since that means having access to needles and thread, she will modify something of his to fit her better. That will be part of her clothing, disguising herself as a guy to get away. Course she still needs to get the ring, some kind of paint to dye her skin to look like a Drule, but at least she has access to oodles of treasure, since I mentioned early on he has open treasure chests in his room. So she figures she'll take some of his jewels and coins, and use that to buy passage back home to Arus.

I do worry about how to handle the fate of some of the other ladies. I always imagined that much later in the fic, Allura either makes Lotor find the women sold, or Lotor does it of his own idea, in order to try to win favor with her. The relationship...it's difficult to talk about, cause it invovles spoilers for much later in the fic idea. I was feeling kinda down, cause I did think it was almost impossible. But then I remembered when I first started mentioning the pirate fic idea to friends, when it was in bare bones stage, and didn't have any other couples, or King Demos courtship to worry about, I had said even then that I felt Allura wouldn't so much love him, as come to reluctantly accept him in her life.

That's not to say that maybe she does end up having feelings for him. It's all dependant on the characters reactions to things, plus how the conversations go. As much as I make plans, it's ussually the conversations that mess me up, that I can't predict in terms of note writing. So we'll see, both me the writer, and you guys and gals the readers, how it turns out in how and if they end up as a couple, and if she comes to love him and forgive him. It's just I have things in my notes, that gives me a sliver of hope that some kind of relationship can happen. Even if it's not a love match on her part, but more a necessity, a choosing of her best option for Arus' survival. By that point, Lotor would LOVE a love match with her, but he might have to settle for whatever he can get from her, you know?

I'm trying not to worry about too far in the future. Right now it's hard enough worrying about how eighteen will come out. I dearly hope the writing of it goes smoothly, though I worry cause it seems like a dififcult one to write. X_X And then I'll be able to write a chapter I've been dying to spoil, but been very good at keeping quiet to almost everyone! XD Just gotta get over the obstacle that eighteen might be...X_X


	18. Chapter 18

His first thought, impossible as it seemed, was to think that a tornado had swept through his cabin. He wouldn't immediately notice that the many chests of treasure were still intact, that not so much as a single coin was spilled onto the floor. Lotor would be too busy gaping, seeing the clothes that made up his very expensive wardrobe, flung every which way about the cabin.

The floor littered with pants, shirts, jackets, the dresser drawers were overturned so that their contents spilled out onto the floor. There was even a shirt hanging on by only it's sleeve, to the ceiling view screen. It didn't registered immediately, that Lotor was looking at his entire wardrobe tossed carelessly about the room. Not until his eyes drifted over to the open doors of his closet, the space there empty, save for a few garments that hung untouched by their hangers.

Those garments were all dresses and gowns, the outfits ones Lotor very much liked seeing his woman of the moment in and out of. The fact that these outfits hadn't been touched, mocked him with the knowledge that his guest had been very particular about targeting Lotor's clothes alone, the woman tearing through his garments with a vindictive purpose. To Lotor, this spoke of more than a simple tantrum, this screamed of a woman lashing out in the only way she had thought left to her.

He could almost admire her effort, Lotor wondering when exactly she had taken it upon herself to do this. Before or after she had been down to the hold, and witnessed the scene there with her friends. If it had been done after his attempts at interrogation, then Lotor really was impressed. It would mean she hadn't been cowed by his tactics, that though his brief use of a whip had frightened her, it hadn't come close to breaking her spirit, or stopping her from misbehaving. Lotor was very close to being in awe of her, until he took a closer look at the clothing that lay crumpled nearest to him.

It was one of his more expensive jackets, gold adornments barely hanging on by a thread. She hadn't been able to do anything about the trimming along the lapels, but the buttons had all been ripped free. She hadn't had the strength to tear the fabric, but on his more flimsy shirts, he could see where her nails had dug in and torn open whole sections.

His shock was quickly giving way, bypassing annoyance and going straight to anger. He wandered around his cabin, picking up random pieces of clothing, and finding that each and every one had some sort of damage done to them. This went beyond tantrum, beyond a lashing out, Lotor deeming it downright malicious, vindictive. He was left looking at the ruins of a wardrobe that had cost him hundreds of thousands, if not millions of credits, and even the leather he so favored hadn't been so lucky as to avoid some bit of damage.

Further inspection would show how inventive the woman had gotten. How his cunning pet, had discovered his belt collection, and use the sharp prongs of a belt buckle, to help her work over the leather. His anger and annoyance mounted, Lotor not at all amused by how clever she had proven in this instance. Not when he was out a small fortune, and worse yet left with nothing intact save for the very clothes he was wearing right now. Lotor, a man who prided himself on dressing expensively, on looking his most devastatingly sexy, would be forced to BORROW clothing from some of his crew. It was downright unacceptable, and the anger he felt combined dangerously with the amount of oversexed hormones pumping through him at the moment.

It left him close to exploding, Lotor violently flinging the jacket away from him. The woman, Alicia, was nowhere in sight, but Lotor didn't believe for one second she was hiding from him. If she had had any regrets over what she had done, any second thoughts, why he would have found her cowering on her knees, greeting him with earnest pleas for forgiveness the second he opened the door. That had not been the case, the woman surely wanting the damage clothing to be the first thing the pirate saw. And just as surely, it had had the effect she had wanted, Lotor practically seeing red, seething with rage.

He'd kick in the bathroom door, and only after the fact, realize she hadn't even locked it. Was she that overly confidant, to think he wouldn't hurt her, that he wouldn't punish her for her misbehavior? Or did she simply not care? Lotor practically snarled, thinking to himself he'd make her care.

The bathroom was filled with steam, the glass mirror and shower stall door fogging with it. He couldn't see her body, could just make out the blurry outline on the glass. But he could see her bare feet, showing just where the glass door ended. He could also see her face, the woman having startled enough at the violent way he had kicked in the door. But it wasn't enough of a shock, the woman regaining her composure. Working her hands over the shampoo in her hair, closing her eyes to rinse it all out.

Eyes narrowing, Lotor spoke, his tone absolutely furious with her. "Get out."

Alicia didn't respond, simply tilting her head back, so as to get more water on her face. Lotor let out a low growl, watching the shampoo wash out of her hair, and then repeated himself.

"Get out of the shower."

A slow blink of her eyes, the woman turning to look at him. It was a cool, assessing look, the kind of indifference shown that only fueled the pirate's anger.

"I'm not yet finished with my shower." She dared to speak, no cower to her tone, no fearful squeaking in her voice. "You can come back in thirty minutes time, if you really wish to speak with me."

Did she suggest the wait in the hopes that his anger would cool down, or did she do it simply to annoy him further? Lotor would never know for certain, advancing forward a step, his hands clenching and unclenching in a show of his agitation.

She looked at him, playing completely innocent, and then turned her back on him. It was completely unwise on her part, Lotor suddenly stalking across the floor. Alicia kept running her hands through her now clean hair, not turning until Lotor had all but shattered open the glass of the shower stall's door.

"Captain!" She gasped out, turning to stare at him. The slightest bit of panic in her eyes, betraying the anxiety she tried to hide.

Lotor tried, he honestly did, to not look at her body. To stay focused on her face alone. But wander his eyes did, first a brief glance that took in her soaked being, the water having washed away all the soap and shampoo, leaving only clean rivulets that ran down her body. Over her breasts, onto her already peaked nipples. To cascading down her front, to soak the curls that guarded her womanly spot.

Once Lotor had that first look, it was hard not to keep going back for more. To let the sight of her fill him with need, bolster the arousal he had been battling for some time. He dug his sharp tipped nails into the palms of his hand, standing just outside the shower, trying to hold on to his anger alone.

"Do you have...any idea...how angry I am with you right now?" Lotor demanded, each word gritted out through clenched teeth. She was still staring at him, but slowly nodded her head. He didn't fail to notice that through lowered lashed, she peeked at his groin, the sight of the bulge there seeming to steal color from her face.

"I have a fair idea..." She all but murmured it, Lotor's ears straining to hear over the shower's roar.

"Then don't antagonize me any further, and get out of the shower!"

"I don't believe that is a good idea." Came her refusal, Alicia shrinking back against the stall's wall when Lotor took one step inside it.

"Not a good idea? NOT A GOOD IDEA?!" He roared, one hand a closed fist, his palm bleeding lightly from his nails. The other hand waved in the air, the woman flinching as though preparing herself to be struck. "Where was this sense of yours, when you had at my clothing? Where was your sense of good and bad, then?!"

"I..." A stubborn lift of her chin, the woman's eyes all but blazing at him. "It's no less than you deserved, you heartless fiend! Torturing innocent women..."

"Torture?!" He managed a snort. "You've no idea what real torture is!"

"You nearly whipped one of my friends, and you made the other two cry. Why I thought all three would scream themselves hoarse, before you were done!" She snapped back.

"All of that could have been avoided if you had just told me what I wanted to know!" Lotor roared back at Alicia.

"I don't owe you any answers!" She retorted. "In fact, I don't owe you anything! You've taken me prisoner, taken my friends and all the innocent people on that yacht, as your prisoner. You intend to sell us, to make us slaves. You're lucky ripping up your clothes is all I did to you!"

"I don't care what you think you don't owe me or why!" Lotor sneered, the shower soaking him and his clothing thoroughly as he advanced on her. "You should consider yourself fortunate Alicia, if all I do to you, is leave you with a sore bottom." He roughly grabbed hold of her, Alicia snarling, her eyes flashing as she struggled against him. It made little difference, Lotor pulling her up against his front, smashing their bodies together as he all but growled in her face. "That's several hundred thousand credits worth of clothing you damaged. And you will pay me back every single credit, even if you have to spend the entirety of this trip on your back!"

She screamed then, Alicia trying to get an hand up to claw at Lotor's face. Lotor growled at her, a loud wordless roar that drowned out her screams. Not bothering to shut off the shower, he threw her struggling form over his shoulder, and stalked out of the stall. She continued to scream, to fight, pulling on his hair. Lotor growled again, slapping a hand viscously against her bare bottom.

It didn't have the desire effect, the woman hardly calming. She continued to shout, to snarl and rage, beating fists against his back. Lotor barely had any self control left, when he reached his bed in the main part of his cabin. By the time he threw her down a top the mattress, Alicia landing on top of a few pieces of the clothing she had damaged, Lotor was already shucking off his wet jacket.

Alicia wasn't idle as he began stripping, pulling herself up against the bed's headboard, then flinging the pillows there at him. Lotor merely held up an arm, letting the pillows bounce off of it, before jerking open his belt. His pants followed, his erection springing from the confines of his leather trousers. This time, a pillow was aimed at his groin, the woman scrabbling, looking for more to throw Lotor's way. He knocked that aside too, and naked, climbed onto the bed with her.

Expecting to have to grab and hold her down, Lotor wasn't expecting Alicia to lunge at him. He just barely caught her in time, avoiding her nails, avoiding the elbow she aimed at his stomach. He did indeed end up pinning her, both of them breathing heavily, anger even in that sound as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Go ahead..." She goaded him, Alicia's eyes narrowed in challenge. "Just take what you want and be done with it."

He almost did, Lotor beyond tempted, beyond angered and tired of all the fighting and the screaming. But never, ever had he taken a woman in total anger before, never had he lost his cool around a woman the way he had had around Alicia. Always before, he had seduced, coaxing even the most resistant of women to lay peacefully in his arms. There was nothing peaceful about this moment, nothing remotely sexy, let alone seductive. Lotor knew that in this moment, if he were to take her now, it really would be rape.

Lotor considered himself many things. Most of all he considered himself a lover of woman, an experienced hand at seducing. For all the times he had gotten forceful, it had never felt like a real rape the way this moment did now. A moment charge with angry and violent sexual energy.

He wanted Alicia, but that want had distorted, twisted somehow. Become something so ugly, Lotor almost didn't recognize it or himself. It was that lack of recognition, that fear that she was driving him to do something that wasn't really him, that caused Lotor to pull back from the cliff he had been teetering at it's edge.

It took only a second, but Lotor used strips of a shirt, a shirt Alicia herself had ruined, to tie her hands to the bed's headboard. She screamed and struggled, and ultimately tired herself out, laying against it panting heavily. Her look was completely wary, Alicia eyeing Lotor and waiting for the worst to happen.

"I won't give you the satisfaction." He grumbled, though the look of surprise in her eyes showed she didn't truly understand. It didn't matter, Lotor thought she could think whatever she wanted, so long as Alicia had failed to make him into something he was not.

Grabbing his only intact clothing from the floor, Lotor carried the wet bundle into the bathroom. He'd take a long, cold shower, before dressing, needing the shower's freezing waters to cool down at least some of his rage and arousal. It wouldn't entirely go away, Lotor having to leave the cabin, needing time to himself, to think and calm down.

To Be Continued...

Aw geeze, it ended up being a very short chapter. There was just no way to extend it in size, without resorting to a sex scene. Ah man, kinda an intense chapter...and it didn't end the way I originally intended. But they were both so angry, I couldn't get a sex scene in here, without it being full on rape. So I apologize to anyone who was hoping for the sex scene in this chapter.

Even with it not going the way I wanted it to originally, I think it came out well. Was very fast to write too! So yay for that!

Next chapter, it's a surprise who we get a POV of! I hope it won't be a struggle, to write this person's voice...X_X

-Michelle

Lady Katherine 29, OMG! I'll respond normally in a sec, but right now I am excitedly flailing all over the place. And all cause of your Haggar has apologies letter/speeches prepared for every time Lotor messes up. I LOVE that idea! WOuld you be okay if use it sometime? Maybe in this fic, maybe in another...though I hope for this fic. *rolling with laughter and excitement* It's such a neat little touch to have! So please! *begs*

Now onto being a little more normal. Thanks! And thanks for standing by me to see how and if it happens. The relationship between Lotor and Allura, and what not. Ryyder and Alexandria, oh boy...better chance of a relationship for sure, but poor Ryder is gonna be blue balled for a bit. I've always wanted to do a scene where some of the Drule guys get together and do some drinking and moaning about their complicated love/sex lives. XD Maybe this fic will finally get that scene!

Merla...ah...well there's always the love hate game for her to have some kind of Lotor action. I need to get back to writing that one too...but I've been very pirate fic motivated, plus eager to get to this big reveal to the readers for a certain character. But I do want to be able to update something older too...but as long as I feel by this one, I better stick and go with the flow! :D


	19. Chapter 19

There was nothing to compare the experience of being strung up by chains, your entire weight supported only by your arms. It didn't take long for your arms to get tired, for you to feel the pull and strain on your body, your sockets screaming in protest of such prolonged abuse. There was no way to get comfortable, no way to shift to alleviate the pressure on your arms. The closest to relief you could get, was to stand on tip toe, your toes straining to stay connected to the ground.

Marie was almost too short to reach it, her toes just barely grazing the floor beneath her. It left her in constant agony, her feet cramping, her arms hurting, Marie trying desperately to keep balanced. She already knew by experience, that it hurt a dozen times worse, to let herself go limp, to let her body be entirely supported by her chained up arms. It hurt so bad, Marie positive it wouldn't take much for her arms to dislocate.

Of course she tried things, tried twisting about so that her fingers could grab and grip hold of the chains. As if it was better to focus the pressure on her hands, rather than the whole of her arms. The chains were cold, and rusted, digging into her skin. Leaving welts and bruises there, and even biting into her hands. Marie had cut herself on the chains, bleeding just a little. The blood added to the rust, Marie imagining that others had hurt themselves in a similar manner in an attempt to alleviate their pain and discomfort.

The chains were sturdy, thick, reliable pieces of metal, welded together and able to support a man weighing thrice as much as Marie. Though they rattled and clinked at her limited movements, they never once gave way, holding even should she swing and sway about in an attempt to break free.

She wasn't going anywhere. THEY weren't going anywhere. They would be left to hang, until someone remembered them. Until someone showed enough mercy to let them down. But Marie didn't expect that to happen anytime soon. Mercy was in short supply on this ship, the Drule pirates too cruel for compassion.

Marie didn't like thinking about the pirates. Didn't like thinking about what had happened before she had been brought to this room. She certainly didn't want to remember, and she certainly didn't want to think about what might happen, once she was let down from the chains. She refused to entertain how much worse her situation could get, how much more inventive the cruelties could be. But her cheek hurt, already bruising from the slap the pirates' own captain had given her.

She wanted to cry. It wouldn't be the first time. Marie had practically cried herself hoarse, the horrors and the shocks, the brutality of what happened, of what continued to happen, almost too much to bear. Captured, imprisoned, raped, than interrogated. Threatened and slapped, with more of the same looking to be in her future. It made her eyes well up with tears, Marie knowing it wouldn't do any good. Crying wouldn't change anything, wouldn't stop what had happened, what continued to happen.

Nor was she the only one. Though she hadn't talked details with her friends, Jacquelyn and Patreesia, she already knew they had been victimized. Their clothing in tatters, Jacquelyn wearing bruises. a result of the red head's refusal to lay down quietly and endure. That type of spirit, while normally admirable, could get a girl killed. It had nearly succeeded in getting Jacquelyn whipped, and only their princess' interference had kept the red head from being hurt any further.

Her heart felt as though a fist tightened around it, whenever Marie allowed herself a moment to think about Princess Allura. About what she must be going through, and how brave she was to endure it all. In awe of her, Marie still remembered the terror she had felt, when Allura had offered herself up in place of her three companions. The pirate captain had looked tempted, but ultimately he had kept from hanging Allura from the ceiling as well. But he wanted answers, and the princess could distract him only for so long. Sooner or later, he'd be back, and then perhaps Allura herself would join them on the chains.

Marie never once considered telling the pirates what their captain so desperately wanted to know. She didn't dare, knowing how much was at stake, how much more terrible things would become if they knew they had THE crown heir of Arus, in their possession. The pirates held few loyalties, save for that of theirs to their home world. The Doom Empire would be thrilled at the chance to possess such a hostage, using the princess to claim victory over Arus. No matter what was to happen, Marie and the others couldn't allow that. No matter how bad they were tortured and victimized.

The princess herself, was doing all she could, to keep the secret of her, of their, identities. Even going so far as to give a fake name, something the pirate captain had eagerly grasped at. Marie knew Allura had bought them time, but only so much. Sooner rather than later, the pirates would discover her trickery, and then they would be back to square one, facing a whipping or worse.

Sighing out loud, Marie wiggled the toes of her left foot. It was cramping again, Marie wanted to kick out and shake it in a desperate attempt to get it to stop. She wasn't the only one suffering, a glance Jacquelyn's way showed the red head gritting her teeth together, her hands clenched around her chains so tight, the knuckles had bled out their natural color.

Patreesia was doing the most fidgeting, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Her chains rattled constantly, but her sniffling was loudest of all. The woman with her recently dyed blonde colored hair, hadn't been able to stop crying for long. Her face was constantly wet, the woman hiccupping, and sobbing. The most delicate of the three, Patreesia really wasn't cut out to withstand such cruelty. And yet she had, a fact that was astonishing and admirable. If anyone were to break under such torture, Marie would have betted on Patreesia being the first.

But her consistent crying grated on the nerves, a fact that was voiced most irritably by Jacquelyn.

"Will you stop it already?!" She demanded crossly. "Crying isn't going to accomplish anything in this situation!"

"I...I'm sorry..." wept Patressia in between words. "I can't seem to stop." Her face was crumpling, a new torrent of tears just waiting to be unleashed.

Jacquelyn cursed in response, Marie lifting her gaze to the angry red head's. "Don't pick on Patreesia so! It's not her fault we are in this mess..."

"No, but she could at least do something to make the experience less annoying!" Jacquelyn snapped back.

"She's been through a lot..."

"We ALL Have." Jacquelyn was quick to point out.

"I'm sorry..." wept Patreesia. "I really am. I'll try to do better...just let me calm down..."

But it was an impossible situation to calm down from. Patressia continued to cry, attempting to muffled her sobs against her shoulder, which only made her sniffles louder. Jacquelyn all but growled in annoyance, and even Marie felt her temper fray just a little.

"You're only making things worse." She said out loud. "You've agitated Patreesia something terribly."

"She's far too sensitive!"

"She has a right to be!" Marie retorted.

Patreesia managed to calm herself enough to speak without sobbing. "Maybe we shouldn't be so loud..."

"We certainly shouldn't be tossing around names." allowed Jacquelyn in a gruff tone. "Anyone could be listening, and decide to run a quick check on them..."

And then that would reveal Allura's identity all the quicker, was Marie's uneasy realization. It would take time, but these pirates seemed determined. Maybe determined enough to enter the Denubian data base system, and go through the trouble of pulling up all the people who could lead to a possible match of the women. It would take time, but each narrowing down would be quicker, until finally they found just who the women really were, and what planet they came from.

"No more names." Marie said out loud. "At least not our real ones. If we have to, we'll make up ones."

"What good would that do?" asked Patreesia in a trembling tone of voice.

"It'll buy us some time..."

"Time for what?" demanded Jacquelyn. "It's not as if anyone is coming to our rescue. Even if they knew what had happened to us..."

"They're going to sell us!" added Patreesia. "Then what will we do?"

Marie didn't know, grimacing at her inability to so much as shrug her shoulders without pain. "I don't know...but we have to hold onto hope."

"Yes, but what do we hope for?" asked Patreesia.

All three fell quiet at that, no one having an answer. It truly seemed a hopeless situation, their choices limited to being sold as slaves, or having Allura's identity exposed, the princess used to force King Alfor to hand over the planet Arus. There seemed to be no way of winning, the time with the pirates the first days of what would end up being a horrible life for them all.

Marie shuddered then, thinking at what the pirate captain had said. How he had talked about life as a slave, how even being made to work a mine somewhere, wouldn't save them from the lusts of a cruel master. Marie didn't want to think that her future would be nothing but slaving away and rape, but she truly couldn't see how they were going to avoid it. Especially if they managed to keep Allura's royal lineage a secret!

It truly made her want to start crying again, Marie feeling helpless and hating it. Hating what would be her future, hating her present situation, even hating that she and the others had done nothing to truly help their home world. Arus was still surrounded by enemies on all sides, and what help it's princess had managed to procure, might never act without Allura there to uphold the promises of the aid she had negotiated for.

It truly felt like Arus' one and only hope had gone up in flames when Allura had set the promise on fire. Those documents had been the one and only proof of Jacqoul's promise, and Marie didn't hold much hope that it's King would do anything without it and Allura there to remind him.

Marie was beginning to wonder if she would ever even know of Arus' ultimate fate, when the sound of heavy footsteps approached the room. By the time the door was being opened, it's heavy bar being lifted noisily, she felt real fear and trepidation, Marie wondering just what would be done to them next. More rape? More questions? Would the captain come to finish the whipping he had started?

Trying not to shake, Marie was prepared to give her most defiant look to the person who came through the door. She was expecting the pirate captain, that handsome but cruel man, with his long white hair. What she saw instead, was a different Drule, a man almost as tall as the captain, but with dirty white hair, and a skin that was more purplish than blue.

He was wearing a helmet, a horn on either side of it. His eyes were all yellow, the dark slits that so many of the Drules had, almost not there. It made him look blind, but those eyes took in the sight of everything in front of him. Including her, Marie almost forgetting to maintain her glare, an unsettled feeling taking her over.

She didn't know this man, had never spoken to this pirate. But she remembered his strange behavior, the way he almost seemed concerned about her and the other women. Certainly she remembered the way he had reacted when his captain had slapped Marie, the helmet wearing pirate practically attacking his own leader.

Marie didn't understand why he would care, why he would find such an act detestable. She certainly didn't take it to mean she was anything special to him. She didn't even think he was truly capable of kindness, not when none of the other pirates had display it or compassion. And yet something had moved him, the pirate allowing Marie and the other women to dress in the tattered remains of their clothing.

She was grateful for that, knowing it would have been a million times more mortifying to have to hang here naked. But she refused to thank him for it, then and now, Marie glaring at him almost as fierce as Jacquelyn did.

Poor Patreesia was practically choking, hyperventilating on fear. She was ignored, the pirate stepping aside so two others could enter with him.

"Get them down." He ordered, to Marie's astonishment and relief. She almost didn't care what would happen next, so long as she could finally be free of the chains, and the endless hanging they had been forced to endure.

The other two pirates moved, talking to each other in their native language. Marie didn't turn to track them, watching warily as the third pirate approached her. He wasn't affected by her glare, standing in front of her as he reached up to fiddle with the chain's locks. He muttered something under his breath as he did so, something preventing him from immediately opening the locks.

Marie was holding her breath, trying not to move, and not to stare at his face as he worked at the locks. He was too close, she could smell the scent of him, some kind of rum and whisky mixture that wasn't entirely unpleasant. She tried to look elsewhere, not liking how close he leaned into her. She could see his chest, part of it from the opening of his yellow colored tunic. There was several impressive looking scars revealed there, and as the sleeves fell back on his arms, she saw similar scarring there as well.

Marie focused on the scars, trying not to look at the pirate even as the first lock came undone. A rattle of chains was heard, a long length of one sliding down off her arm, to clank against the floor at her feet. Similar clanks followed, Marie finding the pressure was leaving her arms, till finally the chains were all gone, and she could lower herself flat to the floor.

Her legs were unstable, shaky after standing on tip toe for so long. Worst of all, a cramp started in one of her feet, Marie biting her lip to not cry out as she started to fall. Immediately the pirate's arms were around her, cradling her close to his body, keeping her from hitting the floor. Marie couldn't control her reaction, recoiling in fear, distaste prickling her arms at being touched by a man, by a pirate and Drule so soon after being raped.

He noticed if the frown on the scarred pirate's face meant anything. But he didn't let her go, holding her upright against him. Marie heard other chains falling, Patreesia hiccupping softly, and a man's wicked laugh. She tried to turn, to see what was happening, just as Jacquelyn began cursing up a storm. Patreesia screamed, her crying shattered in a fit of terror. Marie both wanted to see and not see what was happening, terrified herself, and sure a rape or two was happening.

"St...stop..." She managed to say out loud, the pirate refusing to turn and let her see what was happening to the others. "Don't..." Her own eyes were tearing up, silent tears slinking down her cheeks.

The pirate who held her, looked at her face, and seemed to curse in his own language. And then he was speaking, his words pronounced in the Universal's basic, so that all could understand him.

"Lay off you mangy degenerates!" He snapped. "I didn't tell you to cut them down just to have fun with them!"

"But Cossack..." One protested.

"But nothing!" The scarred pirate, Cossack hissed. "These women are off limits to you."

"Haven't had a woman in hours..." grumbled another, and Marie was sure she heard clothing tear. Patreesia shrieked, the man continuing. "Especially not one I didn't have to share."

Suddenly the pirate Cossack's arms were no longer supporting her, Marie falling to her knees on the ground. She blinked and saw what he had been hiding, a pirate on top of Patreesia, her torn clothing in his hands. Jacquelyn was also on the floor, fighting and cursing, another pirate on top of her. He was having a harder time than his friend on top of Patreesia, Jacquelyn having scored a direct hit with her nails over the man's eye.

"You won't have any woman at all, if you don't stop this and listen to me!" snarled Cossack. He grabbed the pirate on top of Patreesia by the hair, jerking him back to meet his fist. The crunch of bone was heard, Cossack's fist connecting with the other pirate's nose. That pirate screamed, in pain and held hands now to the blood mess of his face.

"My nose!" cried the pirate. "You broke my nose!"

"You're lucky it wasn't your dick I just crushed!" Cossack snarled and spat on the pirate. "As Lotor's third in command, when I give an order I expect to be obeyed!"

The other pirate had scrambled off of Jacquelyn. She lurched to her feet, trying to hit the pirate some more. He roughly pushed her back down, then hurried to check on his injured friend.

"Get him to the med bay." Cossack ordered. "And spread the word. So long as these women remain in this room, they are not to be harmed. And that includes fucking 'em."

"You don't get to make that call!" foolishly protested the one with the broken nose. "You're not the captain."

"No, I'm not." Cossack agreed, lashing out with his foot to stomp it on the pirate's crotch. "But until he says otherwise, I'm in charge here. Now get out and do what I said!"

"Yes, Cossack." muttered the one pirate, hauling his injured friend up off the floor. They were slow moving out the room, Marie watching them warily, as she started to try to stand up. She didn't succeed, starting to crumple again as her legs refused to support her.

Cossack was immediately there, catching her. Marie flinched, her skin crawling, though her reaction this time wasn't quite as bad as the first time he had held her. Patreesia was quieting down, whispering thank yous over and over. Jacquelyn was kneeling on the floor, glaring at this Cossack, her hands making helpless fists.

"Let go of her!" Jacquelyn ordered. "Get your filthy hands off of her!"

Cossack ignored her, looking at Marie with a frown. "Are you all right miss?"

"I.." A shuddery breath expelled out of her. "I've been better."

"Yeah." He muttered. "I don't doubt that."

"Did...did you really mean it?" Marie asked, risking a look at his face. "That...that nothing will happen to us so long as we're in this room?"

"As long as the captain doesn't override my command." Cossack cautioned. She sagged against him, almost crying. Knowing their safe haven was a limited one, entirely reliant on how long this captain stayed entertained by their princess, and the lies she told him.

"Hey now..." Cossack was supporting her entirely, Marie feeling faint. "What's wrong?!"

She couldn't answer, just choking on her own sob. Cossack shifted, his hand suddenly touching her forehead. Another frown, Cossack's voice sounding as though it was coming from far away.

"You feel a little feverish."

A fever was the least of her worries, Marie almost closing her eyes completely, when suddenly the pirate lifted her up off the ground. "What are you doing?" She cried out in alarm.

"Taking you to see Doctor Badar." Cossack announced.

"You don't have to..." Marie protested.

"Can't have the merchandise being sick..." Cossack muttered, not looking at her now.

"Merchandise?!" She exclaimed, and Jacquelyn said it too, sneering all the while.

"You pirate pig! We are not your merchandise! Put her down, now!"

"I take orders from only one person, and that's captain Lotor." Cossack was already walking towards the door, Jacquelyn making a valiant effort to stand and attack him. She was knocked down for her efforts, the woman screaming in pure, unadulterated rage.

"I'm fine!" Marie insisted. "Really...don't..." Another wave of dizziness, so violent Marie thought she'd be ill. "Don't bother..."

But the pirate ignored her protests, carrying her out of the room. He shifted her enough so as to be able to close the door behind him, though there was no way he could lower the heavy bar that worked as a second lock to the door. Not that Marie thought Jacquelyn and Patreesia could escape even with just one lock keeping them trapped.

"Please don't..." Marie continued to plead, this Cossack ignoring her. He'd carry her past the cells full of other captives, and right up the stairs that led out of the hold. There would be other Drules waiting, and there Cossack would give them new commands, ordering them to prepare food and blankets for the women still imprisoned inside the interrogation room.

Those orders surprised the pirates as much as they did Marie, Cossack reminding them the women were not to be harmed in any way. Marie could only sag against his chest, wondering why he was going to so much trouble, why he was practically being nice. But when she asked, he merely shrugged, Cossack insisting he was doing nothing more than his job as the captain's third in command.

That captain was anything but nice, as far as Marie was concerned. She didn't for one second believe he would allow such courtesies towards women he had been set to torture. But she felt too tired, too exhausted both mentally and physically, to argue with Cossack. She simply closed her eyes, and let her mind turn off, Marie passing out completely in Cossack's arms.

To Be Continued...

Wow didn't expect to have this chapter be done so soon. :O Thought it would give me much more trouble than it did. So hooray for that! Now debating on whose POV it should be for the next chapter. Worry it will give something away if I do a Cossack POV at this point and time...so maybe we'll check back in on Lotor and Allura. We shall see, though really I want it to be another Cossack Marie scene...

-Michelle


End file.
